‘Respect’ frustrates Reynolds’ pursuit of Higgins’ cash
A former senator’s favor for Brittany Higgins could have backfired with a bankruptcy filing aimed at uncovering where the former employee’s $2.4 million compensation payment fell further behind.
Former Liberal MP Linda Reynolds successfully sued Ms Higgins over a series of social media posts she believed damaged the former defense minister’s reputation.
Ms Reynolds was awarded $315,000 plus $26,109 in interest after the Supreme Court of Western Australia ruled in August that some of the posts were defamatory.
Ms Higgins was also ordered to pay 80 per cent of her former boss’s legal costs, estimated at more than $1 million.
Ms Reynolds launched bankruptcy proceedings against Ms Higgins in October to recoup the costs she won in the libel case.
Federal Court judge Michael Feutrill on Monday reserved his decision on a petition by Ms Reynolds’ creditors to formally bankrupt Ms Higgins after the former senator made the unusual submission of documents to her lawyer rather than to herself.
“All we were trying to do was facilitate the service in a way that was respectful of mental health and vulnerability, and that turned out to be more difficult than rushing in blindly, unaware of the impact,” Ms Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett told reporters outside the court in Perth.
“As this is an unusual, new point and there is no precedent for it, your Honor will write out the correct reasons for his decision within the next few days.”
Mr Bennett said he had instructed Ms Higgins’ lawyer to accept the documents, did not oppose the case and was confident the court would grant the application.
“If someone goes to the trouble of instructing a solicitor to accept service on their behalf, they are not objecting to service,” Mr Bennett said.
“What they’re doing is avoiding and distancing themselves from door knocking at night in front of neighbors and the like.”
If Ms Reynolds’ application is accepted, her legal team could find out within a few months how much money Ms Higgins has.
“Get behind the foundation. Where’s the $2.4 million? How much has been spent, how much has been taken care of, what’s left?” Explaining the next steps in the proceedings, Mr Bennett said:
Ms Higgins apologized to Ms Reynolds after the former defense secretary emerged victorious in the pair’s five-week high-profile libel case.
Judge Paul Tottle found Ms Higgins’ social media posts contained a series of accusations.
These included that Ms. Reynolds launched a harassment campaign against Ms. Higgins, mishandled the rape allegation, and engaged in questionable behavior during Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal trial, which was annulled for rape.
The 360-page ruling set out factual findings about the incidents involving Ms Reynolds and Ms Higgins, including the alleged rape in 2019 and the years thereafter.
The ruling stated that Ms Higgins made 26 false or misleading statements in media interviews following the sexual assault allegation.
She claims that her former colleague Lehrmann raped her in the senator’s ministerial office.
A Federal Court judge overseeing Lehrmann’s libel case against Network Ten found that, on the balance of probabilities, Ms Higgins had been raped by her former colleague in the office.
Lehrmann lost an appeal against this finding but flagged off taking the case to the Supreme Court.
He denies the rape allegation, and the criminal trial was derailed by juror misconduct.
Ms. Higgins’ husband, David Sharaz, has also been served with a declaration of bankruptcy by Ms. Reynolds and is expected to declare bankruptcy as well.
He was also found to have insulted the former politician and was ordered to pay $85,000 in damages, plus interest and costs.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028
