Linda Reynolds pursues bankruptcy proceedings against Brittany Higgins after defamation win | Defamation law (Australia)

Linda Reynolds filed for bankruptcy against Brittany Higgins, seeking more than $1 million in damages and attorney fees after a defamation lawsuit against her former employee in August.

The former defense minister and Western Australian Liberal senator escalated the case in federal court on Friday after taking similar action against Higgins’ husband David Sharaz.

Higgins was ordered to pay Reynolds $315,000 in damages and an additional $26,109 in interest in August after a WA supreme court judge found Higgins had defamed Reynolds in social media posts. The court ruled that Sharaz was jointly liable for damages for his role in posting a defamatory tweet and Instagram story.

Higgins and Sharaz were also ordered to pay 80% of Reynolds’ legal costs; This figure is expected to exceed $1 million.

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Judge Paul Tottle ruled on July 4, 2023, that Higgins’ Instagram story, which shared a screenshot of headlines announcing Reynolds’ intention to refer Higgins’ $2.445 million personal injury settlement to the federal anti-corruption agency and accusing her of mishandling the alleged rape and waging a campaign of harassment, was defamatory.

Tottle found that Higgins successfully defended another post accusing Reynolds of “silencing” sexual assault victim-survivors. Although Tottle found that the tweet was defamatory, Higgins’ legal team successfully established the defense of honest opinion, fair comment and qualified privilege, he said.

In September, Higgins’ legal team filed a notice of appeal challenging the court’s decision and orders to pay Reynolds’ attorneys’ fees.

Reynolds’ legal team argued during the hearing in August and September 2024 that the senior Liberal senator was cast as the “villain” in Higgins’ “tale” of political cover-up after her staffer alleged in February 2021 that she had been sexually assaulted by a colleague in Reynolds’ ministerial office in March 2019 and was subsequently left unsupported by her boss.

Higgins told news.com.au and The Project that the sexual assault allegation had become a political “issue” for Reynolds and the Morrison government ahead of the 2019 federal election.

The junior Liberal staffer claimed Reynolds was forced to choose between his future working in Perth on the upcoming federal election or pausing his career ambitions to work remotely from the Gold Coast, where his support network is based.

The court heard Higgins went to the media to make changes to Parliament House following the rape allegation. Higgins’ barrister, Rachael Young SC, said Higgins felt isolated professionally and personally and believed she should remain silent because her claim was politically objectionable.

The ruling comes more than a year after a federal court judge ruled against Bruce Lehrmann in his defamation lawsuit against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson for airing Higgins’ sexual assault allegations against him.

Lehrmann denied the rape allegations and pleaded not guilty in the criminal case heard in the Australian Capital Territory supreme court, which was annulled. Prosecutors did not request a retrial due to concerns about Higgins’ mental health.

Judge Michael Lee found Lehrmann raped Higgins in the ministerial chair at Parliament House in 2019, on the balance of probabilities.

Lehrmann disputes the finding.