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Seven ordered to pay $70,000, ending legal dispute with former employee Lisa Squillace

Seven West Media has been ordered to pay $70,000 to its former employee Lisa Squillace, ending a legal stoush which began when Squillace wanted to move across to a new role at Ten before the end of her non-compete period.

Court documents show Seven was ordered to pay $69,867.14 gross less applicable tax to Squillace, but that she would not be able to start her new role with Ten until February.

A letter filed in October through law firm Laxon Lex argued that Squillace wasn’t invited to apply for the role of Seven’s network director of sales, which was made available earlier this year after long-standing employee Adam Elliott stepped down. Natalie Harvey was eventually appointed to replace Elliott.

The letter stated Squillace believed she was not considered for Seven’s director of sales role because she was approximately six months pregnant at the time.

It also argued that because Squillace was already outside the office due to her maternity leave, the “effect that the non-compete seeks to achieve will have already been achieved”.

Squillace left her role as Seven’s director of program partnerships in October. At the time, Mumbrella understood Squillace would be starting a new sales role at Ten.

Seven originally offered to reduce Squillace’s non-compete period from six months to two, to begin at the end of her unpaid maternity leave period, meaning her start date with Ten would have been February.

The court order, issued on Monday, states Squillace could only begin a role with any of Seven’s ‘related bodies corporate’, including Ten, after 5.00pm on February 10, 2019.

The proceedings have now been dismissed with no order about legal costs. Seven and Ten declined to comment.

Ten has recently brought its entire sales team in-house following its disengagement with MCN, which will take effect early next year.

In September, Ten appointed sales directors for Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. At the time, Ten flagged its national sales director would be appointed shortly, but the role has not yet been filled. In November, Seven’s Diane Ho was named Ten’s Sydney sales director.

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