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Category: Media / Courts and Trials / Management

Amber Harrison threatened to 'destroy idiot boss' Worner

Tuesday, 21 Feb 2017 12:10:13 | Peter Ryan

The court was told Amber Harrison said she was "out to get" Seven West's CEO Tim Worner. (AAP: David Moir)

Seven West Media has tendered to a court extraordinary excerpts from emails by former employee Amber Harrison, where she threatened to destroy her former lover Tim Worner, the company's chief executive.

Andrew Bell SC, representing Seven, told the NSW Supreme Court that Ms Harrison had emailed Mr Worner's executive assistant saying that she planned to "finish destroying your idiot boss" after the affair ended at the end of 2014.

"I am out to get him. This is war," Ms Harrison threatened in one email, Dr Bell told the court.

The court also heard that Ms Harrison said she would "unleash a reign of terror" on Mr Worner and that she had "a thousand texts from someone that I'm about to blow the roof off with."

Seven West Media is seeking to extend an interim injunction against Ms Harrison which would prevent her from leaking confidential documents that Dr Bell argued have nothing to do with her affair with Tim Worner.

Dr Bell said Ms Harrison had been paid $428,418 as part of her settlement with Seven in the wake of the damaging affair, with conditions which required her "not to make adverse statements" and to keep all documents confidential.

"She has after all been paid a very significant amount of money as the price for promises that we made," Mr Bell told the court.

"If her employment opportunities have suffered it is because of the breach (of the deed). It has nothing to do with my client."

Harrison copied documents for 'disgraceful purposes'

Dr Bell claimed that Ms Harrison took screenshots from senior Seven executive Bruce McWilliam to members of the Seven board and to Seven's executive committee.

Dr Bell said Ms Harrison was assembling documents "for her own disgraceful purposes" with the intention of "deploying them to her advantage ... in the future."

Avoiding corporate scandals


Corporate boardrooms need to focus on problem finding, not problem solving, to avoid damaging scandals.

Ms Harrison was not in court for today's hearing, but was represented by James Catlin who presented a USB stick containing 900 pages of documents he said are relevant to the case.

Asked by Justice McDougall why the affidavit was relevant, Mr Catlin said they explained "how Ms Harrison related to Mr Worner and how relationships break down."

Representatives for Seven and other related parties requested that the documents be heavily redacted before being released because of "scandalous" material.

Media interest in the Amber Harrison scandal is at fever pitch, with News Corporation and Fairfax Media requesting permission to speak with Amber Harrison without risking contempt of court.

Follow Peter Ryan on Twitter and via his Main Street blog.

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