By Jesinta Burton
Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has made good on her threat to sue Brittany Higgins for defamation for a social media post accusing her of harassment, issuing a writ against her former staffer in the West Australian Supreme Court.
According to the writ lodged on Monday, Reynolds is suing Higgins for aggravated damages over an Instagram story on July 4 and a Twitter post on July 20, both of which she claimed were defamatory of her.
Linda Reynolds claims Brittany Higgins defamed her in an Instagram story and Twitter post last month.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen/AAP
The former defence minister is also claiming the posts constituted a breach of a deed of settlement and release the pair signed back in March 2021, which contained a non-disparagement clause.
Reynolds is demanding two injunctions preventing Higgins from publishing defamatory material about her and preventing her from further breaches of the deed.
The news comes just weeks after Higgins took to social media accusing her former boss of harassment and confirming she had received a legal letter from Reynolds’ lawyers.
On Thursday, Reynolds confirmed she had launched defamation proceedings after sending a concerns notice and receiving a “wholly unsatisfactory response” from Higgins’ lawyers.
“Ms Higgins continues to use the media to make defamatory comments about my conduct notwithstanding the existence of facts and evidence to the contrary and without regard to a non-disparagement clause she agreed to,” Reynolds said.
She said the concerns noticed issued on July 5 requested Higgins refrain from defaming the senator, “however her conduct following receipt of that notice ... and the unsatisfactory response received from her lawyer is evidence that she has no intention of stopping”.
A spokesperson for Arnold Bloch Leibler confirmed Higgins had retained the law firm’s services and intended to defend the claim vigorously.
In 2021, Higgins alleged she had been raped in Reynolds’ parliamentary office by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann.
Lehrmann has repeatedly denied the allegation and a criminal trial was aborted late last year due to juror misconduct, with a retrial ruled out over fears about its potential impact on Higgins’ mental health.
Reynolds is also locked in a defamation battle with Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, who she has accused of “trolling” her in tweets she claims were false and defamatory of her and caused her, her family and staff stress and anguish.
The lawsuit was later amended to include a further three social media posts from other platforms.
Reynolds is demanding the former press gallery journalist pay damages, as well as aggravated damages, over five social media posts. She also seeks an injunction preventing the material from surfacing again.
Last month Reynolds claimed she had been targeted with “unwarranted criticism and abuse”.
“Despite [Higgins’] repeated defamation of my character, until now I have not taken any action against her personally – even though I considered her words to breach our previous settlement agreement,” Reynolds said in a statement at the time.
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