Defamation case vs News is discontinued
Bruce Lehrmann settles lawsuit out of court
Bruce Lehrmann has dropped his defamation case against a major news company after settling the lawsuit out of court.
Mr Lehrmann launched defamation action in March against News Corp’s News Life Media, Network 10 and journalists Samantha Maiden and Lisa Wilkinson. He later also launched proceedings against the ABC.
The former political staffer on Tuesday dropped the defamation action against News Life media and news.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden. The other defendants remain in the case.
He claimed two articles published on news.com.au in 2021 defamed him by claiming he “raped Brittany Higgins in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019”.
Mr Lehrmann was not named in the reports but claims he was nevertheless identified by the media companies. He has denied all allegations.
Justice Michael Lee on April 28 ruled Mr Lehrmann would be allowed to file the lawsuit outside of the one-year deadline.
NCA NewsWire understands News Life Media and Mr Lehrmann came to an agreement outside of court, with the official file reading as “Discontinued/Withdrawn” online.
News Life Media does not have to make an apology to Mr Lerhmann, and no damages will be paid.
News Life Media has agreed to make a contribution to Mr Lehrmann’s legal costs following his successful application before the court to extend the time limit to bring the action.
The two articles of concern remain online.
Editor-in-chief Lisa Muxworthy said news.com.au stood by Ms Maiden’s reporting which examined how Ms Higgins’ allegations were handled by political leaders and institutions and the fallout that followed.
“We thank Ms Brittany Higgins for telling her story and for all that she has endured in making that choice to improve the system for complainants,” she said.
“We will continue to report on the general issues surrounding sexual assault allegations, our justice system and how to improve that system for men and women.”
Ms Muxworthy said she news.com.au continued to “stand by Australian women and men who sparked a national reckoning” in the wake of the important story.
Mr Lehrmann stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court last year after pleading not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.
The charges were subsequently dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions and Mr Lehrmann has continued to deny the allegations.
The defamation lawsuits against the ABC and Network 10 remain active, after Justice Lee granted the extension of time. Justice Lee said it would have been problematic to initiate defamation proceedings prior to the conclusion of the criminal matter and that Mr Lehrmann was “entitled to be cautious given the stakes”.