Seven West Media has admitted that its chief executive Tim Worner had an inappropriate relationship with a 35-year-old personal assistant after the affair became public following the breakdown of legal negotiations.
Amber Harrison, a former executive assistant at Seven, has detailed claims about a consensual sexual relationship with Mr Worner for two years from 2012.
More Victoria News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:09
Seven executive's extra-marital affair in ...
Seven executive's extra-marital affair in legal battle
Legal stoush after Seven West Media boss Tim Worner's messy affair with a 35-year-old executive assistant goes public after negotiations breakdown.
Up Next
Noticed an increase in Melbourne's city traffic?
- Video duration
- 01:48
- Video duration
- 01:48
Noticed an increase in Melbourne's city ...
Noticed an increase in Melbourne's city traffic?
An increase in construction projects closing city traffic lanes is having an impact on drivers and pedestrians.
Up Next
Lismore's kings of croquet
- Video duration
- 01:10
- Video duration
- 01:10
Lismore's kings of croquet
Lismore's kings of croquet
These three brothers from the tiny town of Lismore in western Victoria are masters of the regal game.
Up Next
Police investigate brawl outside Tarneit McDonald's
- Video duration
- 01:58
- Video duration
- 01:58
Police investigate brawl outside Tarneit ...
Police investigate brawl outside Tarneit McDonald's
The mother of a boy who works at Tarneit McDonald's says she doesn't want her son working there anymore after about 100 people crowded the site on Sunday night.
Up Next
Missing mother search moves to rural properties
- Video duration
- 01:21
- Video duration
- 01:21
Missing mother search moves to rural ...
Missing mother search moves to rural properties
Police search rural properties in Melbourne's north-west for missing mother Karen Ristevski, who disappeared in June. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
Up Next
Four lion cubs born at Werribee Zoo
- Video duration
- 00:40
- Video duration
- 00:40
Four lion cubs born at Werribee Zoo
Four lion cubs born at Werribee Zoo
Lioness Nairibi and her cubs are off display in a special nesting den after she gave birth to her first litter at the Werribee Open Range Zoo last week.
Up Next
CCTV: Prahran punch attack
- Video duration
- 00:09
- Video duration
- 00:09
CCTV: Prahran punch attack
CCTV: Prahran punch attack
Police are appealing for witnesses after a man took a blow to the head outside a Chapel Street bar in Prahran on Sunday morning.
Seven executive's extra-marital affair in legal battle
Legal stoush after Seven West Media boss Tim Worner's messy affair with a 35-year-old executive assistant goes public after negotiations breakdown.
When the affair began, Ms Harrison was the executive assistant to Nick Chan, then CEO of Seven West's magazine division Pacific Magazines. Ms Harrison's statement contained salacious allegations about the affair with Mr Worner and detailed their time together on corporate retreats.
"The affair began the month after the [November 2012] board meeting at Pacific Magazines. We started flirting and soon after Tim began texting and emailing me for sex," Ms Harrison said.
"I knew he was married. It was never about love. It was about sex and power."
Seven has confirmed that Mr Worner has previously apologised for the inappropriate relationship and claims that $100,000 the network paid to Ms Harrison was out of sympathy because she had raised mental health concerns.
For her part, Ms Harrison says she has been treated badly by the network and that when she complained about her treatment by Mr Worner she was hit with claims that she had misappropriated $262,000 of unauthorised expenditure on her corporate credit card and was fired.
Ms Harrison said: "I believe the investigation was suggested by Tim in the hope I would resign."
She also said that abuse of corporate credit cards was rife in the company and particularly among senior executives.
However, a Seven source has claimed that the alleged fraud was discovered after an independent audit and Ms Harrison's employment was then terminated.
Ms Harrison later repaid $14,000 in personal expenses which she had incurred on the corporate card.
On August 1, 2014, Ms Harrison signed a deed of release with Seven in which she was paid $100,000 which appeared on her group certificate as a bonus.
She said negotiations between the parties failed at the Australian Human Rights Commission in May 2016.
Ms Harrison has since fallen out with her lawyers Harmers over an estimated $150,000 in legal costs.
Ms Harrison has since engaged lawyer Sam Macedone, who for the past few months has been trying to negotiate a settlement between the parties.
The three-way settlement was to include a payment to Ms Harrison of close to $200,000 with $40,000 of that payout going to Harmers.
Fairfax Media understands the settlement negotiations broke down after Seven demanded that all the files relating to the matter be handed to them.
"They have continued to apply unreasonable, wide-reaching and ever-changing demands to the very end and I have nothing left to fight them with now, except the truth," Ms Harrison said.