Retiring senator Linda Reynolds is suing the federal government over its conduct in reaching a multi-million settlement with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.
The lawsuit concerned a $2.445million payout made to Ms Higgins in 2022, who claimed the Senator did not support her after she came forward with allegations she had been raped by Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House in 2019.
The former Defence Minister claimed in a statement on Friday she was not involved in the Ms Higgins settlement which, she said, occurred over a single day and gave the impression of publicly affirming Ms Higgins’ claims.
Senator Reynolds’s lawyer Martin Bennett confirmed to the ABC he lodged the suit with the Federal Court of Australia on Thursday.
‘It sent a message to the nation that those allegations were so true, so damning, so abhorrent that the Commonwealth was prepared to pay her $2.445million after only a single instance of mediation,’ Senator Reynolds said in the statement.
Senator Reynolds described the conduct of Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and the Commonwealth’s lawyers handling the settlement as ‘egregious’.
She wrote that the Attorney-General and the Commonwealth’s lawyer had taken over her defence of Ms Higgins’ claim ‘without my consent’.
She added they erred in: ‘Failing to take any instructions from me, failing to test Ms Higgins’ allegations, denying me an opportunity to attend the mediation, denying me an ability to retain my own legal counsel, settling the claim on my behalf without my consent and failing to provide me with sufficient or accurate information about the terms of the settlement.’
Senator Linda Reynolds is suing the Commonwealth and law firm HWL Ebsworth for their conduct surrounding a $2.4million settlement with former staffer Brittany Higgins
Ms Higgins with her partner David Sharaz. The pair were forced to sell their French home to defend a defamation suit brought by Senator Reynolds last year
‘The Attorney-General and his ministers had been such staunch public supporters of Ms Higgins, politicising her untested, unsubstantiated and untrue allegations against me and it is impossible to reconcile how they considered they could act in my best interests and advocate for me in those circumstances.’
The Senator is suing the Commonwealth for a breach of its fiduciary duty.
She is also suing law firm HWL Ebsworth, which acted for the Commonwealth, for negligence.
Ms Reynolds last year referred the payout to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Last year she launched a defamation case against Ms Higgins for three social media posts she claimed damaged her reputation.
A verdict has yet to be handed down following the five-week trial which ended in September.
Ms Higgins was forced to list the French home she shared with her partner David Sharaz for sale to cover the costs of defending the defamation suit.
The announcement came at what was likely a difficult time for Ms Higgins who revealed on Wednesday her baby boy was undergoing surgery.
Senator Reynolds alleged Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus took over her defence of the settlement brought by Ms Higgins without her consent or instructions
Bruce Lehrmann has always denied he raped Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2019
A criminal trial against Mr Lerhmann in relation to the alleged rape was abandoned following juror misconduct before a re-trial was cancelled due to concerns for Ms Higgins’ wellbeing.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found on the balance of probabilities that Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins after he brought an unsuccessful defamation suit against Channel 10.
Mr Lehrmann is currently appealing the finding and continues to maintain his innocence.
HWL Ebsworth and the Attorney-General’s office were contacted for comment.
Brittany HigginsBruce Lehrmann
