Login
Lawyers clash in first hearing of actress’s sexual harassment lawsuit
Lawyers for actress Christie Whelan Browne and Oldfield Entertainment clashed over timetables, confidentiality and potential applications to dismiss proceedings ahead of a mediation over the latter’s alleged failure to respond to sexual harassment claims.
Naomi Neilson
Ms Whelan Browne filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court claiming Oldfield Entertainment, previously known as GFO Entertainment, victimised her when she made complaints alleging fellow actor Craig McLachlan had sexually harassed her during the 2014 Rocky Horror Show.
During a case management hearing before the Federal Court, lawyers for Oldfield Entertainment flagged they would make an application for “summary dismissal or a permanent stay due to abuse of process” relating to the length of time since the offending.
The lawyers said the entertainment company is “significantly prejudiced by the delay” and some of the named parties “no longer work for the respondents and haven’t for many years”.
Oldfield Entertainment has requested additional time to review a transcript of Mr McLachlan’s abandoned defamation hearing, but Kate Eastman, a leading barrister appearing on behalf of Ms Whelan Browne, told the court their timeline was unreasonable.
Ms Eastman said the respondents have been “on notice” about Ms Whelan Browne’s complaint for over a year.
“For the respondent to say they don’t know what the transcripts say … [and] over the past eight months or earlier than that [to say they need] the transcript to be able to run their defence is somewhat concerning.
“The reasons that have been advanced this morning … are not reasons that should cause any delay in the respondent’s being able to prepare their defence,” Ms Eastman said.
Absent an application, the lawyers for Oldfield Entertainment also requested an order for confidentiality.
However, Ms Eastman said it would not be appropriate to make this order without an application and without giving Ms Whelan Browne and media representatives time to make submissions on the matter.
The parties have agreed to the period between 27 November and 1 December to begin the mediation before a senior registrar.
Should this fail, Ms Eastman requested the court take a “trauma-informed approach” by informing Ms Whelan Browne about the next steps so that she may “have some certainty as [to] what might happen in her case”. This, Ms Eastman submitted, should include an outline of both witness evidence and the affidavits from experts.
Picture credit: Instagram (@christiewhelanbrowne)
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
