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Amber Harrison reports Seven West Media to ASIC, ASX

Lucy Battersby
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Amber Harrison has reported her former employer, Seven West Media, to the market and corporate regulators, claiming a company statement last week had misled the sharemarket.

Seven on Friday morning announced the findings of an independent investigation into alleged misconduct by chief executive Tim Worner, saying it had cleared him of wrongdoing.

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Seven clears CEO of wrongdoing

Seven West Media clears CEO Tim Worner of wrongdoing after allegations of misconduct were raised last year by former employee Amber Harrison.

But Ms Harrison said Seven's response to the review of her months-long affair with Mr Worner and its aftermath was a "whitewash".

She has publicly alleged he was affected by drugs at work functions and encouraged her to use company funds to facilitate their rendezvous. 

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Late on Friday afternoon, she emailed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the market operator, ASX. 

"I wish to lodge a formal complaint with ASIC about Seven West Media," Ms Harrison wrote. 

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"Seven West Media released a factually incorrect statement to market today and have been trading on this incorrect information."

Both ASIC and the ASX confirmed they had received a complaint. 

A spokesman for ASIC said it would make a general assessment to determine if any laws had been broken before deciding whether to launch a full investigation. 

Ms Harrison included written statements outlining her opposing view, including that she told the independent investigation about specific evidence, such as "two taxi receipts which confirm that Tim Worner used his corporate credit card to come to my house". 

The board commissioned the independent inquiry from law firm Allens Linklaters on December 22 to "establish all the facts" about Ms Harrison's allegations.

Last Friday, Seven's board issued a statement saying it was satisfied that the allegations could not be substantiated and there were no grounds to take any further action against Mr Worner. 

Seven independent director Sheila McGregor resigned from the board without explanation a day before the statement was released. 

Seven declined to comment. Another board member, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, told the media he was "very satisfied that the release we made to the ASX conforms with my own personal requirements in terms of governance practice".  

Ms Harrison went public with the affair late last year because Seven has been pursuing her over allegations of credit-card misuse. She has accepted about $14,000 of personal expenses were put on her card, but argues hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenses Seven wants refunded were legitimate within her role as an executive assistant and events coordinator at Seven's Pacific Magazines. 

"I have admitted my flaws and expressed my regret for what I did," she wrote to the board during the investigation. 

"But what [commercial director Bruce] McWilliam and the army of shareholder-funded lawyers continue to put me through has been despicable, excessive, brutalising and cruel. The punishment far outweighs any crime you believe I committed."

Mr Worner has not yet spoken publicly about the affair or Ms Harrison's allegations. Â