Taylor Auerbach says he was shunned and vilified after Seven’s statements about his role in securing Thai massage for Lehrmann - The Guardian

[Amanda Meade]

The former Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach suffered substantial distress, embarrassment and hurt after Seven breached a non-disparagement clause, he has claimed in a lawsuit filed against the media company in the federal court.

Auerbach worked at the network for nearly five years, during which he was instrumental in securing an interview with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann, including purchasing $1,000 in services from a Thai masseuse for Lehrmann on the Seven credit card.

He said he continued to be Lehrmann’s minder, using the company card “to purchase lavish dinners for Mr Lehrmann and purchase luxury accommodation stays for him over the course of the succeeding months”.

The producer said he was “offered multiple inducements to stay at the network” after securing the interview but he resigned seven months later in April 2023, after settling a dispute with Seven over the “conduct of fellow employees in the workplace”.

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Auerbach claims the former commercial director at Seven, Bruce McWilliam, spoke to the news.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden in March 2024 and told her a producer had used a Seven credit card to purchase personal services without the knowledge of anyone else at the network, according to his statement of claim.

Maiden reported that “the producer was counselled and provided with a written warning”. “It is understood that Seven considers the matter has been dealt with appropriately,” she wrote.

Auerbach said in his claim that Seven’s statement to Maiden caused him to lose his job with Sky News Australia where he was employed as an investigations producer.

Seven also gave a statement to the ABC program Media Watch in March 2024 which said “the person involved was disciplined at the time and no longer works for the company” but did not name Auerbach.

Auerbach’s statement of claim said he previously had an outstanding reputation as a journalist and the republication of Seven’s statements “had the effect of making people shun and vilify” him.

“The statements caused a tide of hatred and negativity towards Auerbach,” the claim said.

Auerbach also repeated claims that he was not disciplined by Seven for using a network credit card to book Lehrmann the personal services.

“Seven never ‘insisted’ the monies be repaid in line with its expense policy,” Auerbach’s statement of claim said.

“To the contrary, Seven dissuaded Auerbach from doing so and instead instructed him to attempt to track down the massage service provider, withdraw cash from a bank branch, and offer the individual a ‘bonus’ in return for reversing the credit card charges and wiping them from the Seven accounting records.”

Before Justice Michael Lee could deliver his judgment in the defamation case brought by Lehrmann last year, News Corp reported that Spotlight had put almost $3,000 on a Seven credit card to pay for Thai massages for Lehrmann and an unnamed producer, later identified as Auerbach.

The story prompted Ten to seek leave to reopen its case and Lee allowed it, hearing evidence from Auerbach about how he persuaded Lehrmann to sit down with Spotlight’s Liam Bartlett for a TV interview.

Auerbach told the trial how he built a rapport with Lehrmann over several months in order to secure an exclusive interview, claiming that Lehrmann “appreciated the fact that I wasn’t sitting with the rest of the feminazis in the press pack”.

The proceeding has been listed for a first case management hearing on 2 May.