Seven's Fair Work dispute ends, suppression orders extended
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The news: Seven's Fair Work dispute brought by ex-producer Amelia Saw against former colleagues over alleged breaches of general workplace protections has formally ended today.
Lawyers in the case reached a "cessation of proceedings" following extended mediation.
The context: Legal teams had applied to Federal Court of Australia Judge Nye Perram to extend suppression orders in the matter, which he granted today as he concluded the case.
Saw lodged her Federal Court case against Seven Network on 6 September.
The matter was ordered to mediation at a first case management hearing.
The case included fights over suppression orders, with three of the nation’s largest media organisations tapping Thomson Geer to fight Seven Network's pursuit of suppression orders in a Fair Work case brought by a former employee.
Seven was not seeking permanent suppression or non-publication orders but rather orders that would last until after mediation or after the filing of its defence.
Perram ruled on 18 October that suppression orders should be granted because publishing details of the case now “would be prejudicial to the administration of justice because it may imperil the success of an upcoming mediation”.
Perram had said previously that the contents of the documents were “colourful and embarrassing”.
In November, the mediation portion of the dispute was marked as resolved on public court files, before changing to “open” once again just days later. According to a spokesperson for the Federal Court at the time, the label was changed after a “change in circumstances”.
The source: Federal Court
