- Seven says more than a dozen women have come forward with new allegations
- Ovadia strongly denies any wrongdoing amid ongoing legal scandal
EXCLUSIVE
Seven Network has spent months compiling an explosive dossier of alleged allegations against former top crime reporter Robert Ovadia. The scandal now threatens to lead to former colleagues being labelled collateral damage.
The case is reportedly so extensive that Seven is preparing to draw the line and fully commit to fighting the reporter’s claims of wrongful dismissal, despite a new round of court-ordered mediation.
The revelation comes after the network told a federal court on Thursday that 13 more women have made allegations against the Walkley Award-winning journalist since his firing in June.
Ovadia strongly denies that he did anything wrong.
The veteran reporter filed a lawsuit against Seven on August 9, claiming the network had breached the terms of his contract and saw no reason to fire him.
The 51-year-old also claimed the network’s new news chief, Anthony De Ceglie, deliberately made statements that were “intended to belittle, insult and hurt him.”
Seven defends both allegations.
Former Seven Star crime reporter Robert Ovadia was fired in June after a weeks-long internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct, which he denies.
The veteran reporter had worked at the network for more than 20 years before being fired
The courtroom drama comes after the Fair Work Commission failed to resolve the dispute through mediation six weeks ago.
An attempt to resolve the issue via video call between the parties in July quickly collapsed, with Seven subsequently refusing to participate in further sessions.
On June 21, Ovadia was fired by Seven with immediate effect after an internal investigation uncovered two incidents of alleged inappropriate conduct by the reporter in the Sydney newsroom over several weeks.
Seven’s lawyer Vanja Bulut told the federal court on Thursday that they had evidence showing Ovadia had sent “inappropriate photos via text message and email” to a young female producer and an image “of a man’s genitals” to a male colleague.
“After the applicant was discharged, another 13 women came forward. The applicant was made aware of this,” Ms Bulut told Judge Elizabeth Raper.
‘My client has written a letter detailing the additional allegations that have come to light. Those documents have been provided to the applicant.
‘Even if they (Seven) had no basis at the time to primarily terminate the employment contract with the applicant, the conduct that later came to light does provide a basis.’
According to Ovadia’s attorney Andrew Gotting, his client had received some of the material, but many details had been omitted.
Seven reportedly made the extensive redactions to protect the privacy of dozens of Ovadia’s former colleagues – both men and women – who now fear they could be caught up in the scandal.
The court said more than a dozen women have now come forward with accusations against Ovadia
Ovadia, who worked at Seven for almost a quarter of a century, still strongly denies any inappropriate behavior.
The reporter, who was not present at the trial, claimed the allegations against him were part of a plot to “bully” him into dropping his case against his former employer at the television company.
“The allegations are baseless and Seven has never provided any evidence despite repeated requests,” he said on Thursday afternoon.
“Even today in court there was no evidence to support this. It was just a dirty tactic to prevent me from defending myself.”
Despite the parties’ troubled history with mediation, Judge Raper ordered a new round of talks – this time in person – between the two sides, noting that the ““It’s worth a try” before the case returns to court in February.
