The Western Australia Supreme Court has found former WA Senator Linda Reynolds was defamed by her former staffer, Brittany Higgins.
Higgins was working for Reynolds when she alleged she was raped by her then-colleague, Bruce Lehrmann. A judge in a civil case has found it is more likely than not that Lehrmann raped Higgins.
Reynolds’ defamation case related to three social media posts published by Higgins and her husband, David Sharaz, two of which were found to be defamatory.
She has been awarded more than $315,000 in damages. Higgins has flagged she won’t appeal.
Background
In 2021, Brittany Higgins publicly alleged she had been raped by a then-unnamed coworker in Parliament House, while she was working for Linda Reynolds.
A criminal trial failed due to juror misconduct. A re-trial was abandoned.
Lehrmann later launched a civil defamation case in the Federal Court, claiming he was identifiable in the initial coverage of Higgins’ allegation.
The judge in this case found it was more likely than not that Lehrmann raped Higgins, on the balance of probabilities. An appeal is underway.
Defamation case
After going public, Higgins criticised Reynolds, her former boss, in a number of social media posts.
In these posts, Higgins alleged that Reynolds “continues to harass” her through the media.
Sharing an article about Reynolds, Higgins also claimed: “Instead of solving the problem, there are people who would prefer to just silence victims.”
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Reynolds sued Higgins in a WA court over the social media posts, arguing her reputation was unfairly damaged due to the social media posts.
She argued they falsely suggested she harassed Higgins, mishandled the rape allegations, and wants to silence victims of sexual assault.
Higgins had relied partly on the truth defence, requiring her legal team to argue that some of the meanings were substantially true.
Ruling
Justice Paul Tottle found Higgins and Sharaz had defamed Reynolds in two social media posts.
In his judgment, Tottle ruled one of Higgins’ posts was defended on the grounds of qualified privilege, fair comment, and honestly-held opinion.
The defamatory posts were also found to have breached a “non-disparagement” clause in Higgins’ 2021 settlement with the government, which was reached after she first publicly aired the rape allegations.
Response
Outside court, Reynolds said she felt “vindicated”.
“This was never about Higgins’ rape allegations,” Reynolds said, instead saying the case was over posts which she said “cost me my reputation [and] my health”.
Higgins posted on social media, saying: “I accept that Linda Reynolds’ feelings were hurt by these events and I am sorry for that.”
She said she was “grateful” the case was over, and that she and her family “look forward to... rebuilding our lives.”
