’13 more females have come forward with complaints’: Seven takes aim at Robert Ovadia in Federal Court
Seven has alleged that thirteen women have come forward with further complaints against its recently sacked crime reporter Robert Ovadia, during the first day of his unlawful dismissal case in the Federal Court.
Seven’s barrister Vanja Bulut said since the network sacked the journalist in June, “13 more females have come forward with complaints in relation to his conduct”, and the journalist “had been put on notice of that” and “to the extent that those allegations are recorded in documents, those documents have been provided.”
Bulut continued: “The conduct that has come to light subsequently does provide a basis to summarily terminate, and my client is able to rely on those additional allegations”, which will be submitted as a written defence.
Ovadia said in a statement following the hearing: “The claims are baseless and Seven has never provided evidence despite repeated requests. Even today, no evidence to support any of this.”
Ovadia was sacked by the network following allegations of “inappropriate conduct”.
The crime reporter then hired high-profile lawyer John Laxon, who confirmed a wrongful dismissal suit against both the Seven Network and Anthony De Ceglie has been filed.
Ovadia was originally put on leave in early June while the network conducted an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving emails with a former Seven female employee.
“Any suggestion I have been inappropriate at any time is false, malicious and will be defended,” Ovadia said at the time, calling the allegations “malicious.”
In addition to the emails, Ovadia also reportedly responded to a male colleague’s request for “Dick pics” — relating to child sex charges against former Australian swim coach Dick Caine, a case Ovadia was covering in court — with an image of “an image of a flaccid penis”, obtained via Google search.
Ovadia is seeking compensation, and reinstatement to his job, which he held for 23 years.
Federal Court Justice Elizabeth Raper ordered the parties to attend mediation in October, despite Bulut saying Seven “sees no benefit in the mediation”.
Should the mediation be unsuccessful, the next preliminary hearing has been set for February.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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