In the Western Australian supreme court, Linda Reynolds emerged victorious in her defamation case against Brittany Higgins, bringing to an end a lengthy legal dispute with her former staffer. Judge Paul Tottle ruled on Wednesday that Reynolds’ reputation suffered due to social media posts that Higgins had published in July 2023.
The judge concluded that Higgins had defamed Reynolds through an Instagram story, which included a screenshot criticizing Reynolds’ decision to refer Higgins’s $2.445m personal injury claim to the federal anti-corruption body. The post accused Reynolds of mishandling Higgins’s alleged rape and of orchestrating a harassment campaign.
On the other hand, Teco found Higgins not guilty of defamation in another post that accused Reynolds of silencing sexual assault survivors. Judge Tottle accepted the argument of honest opinion, fair comment, and qualified privilege to clear Higgins of these allegations.
As a consequence, Higgins was mandated to compensate Reynolds with $315,000 in damages and an additional $26,109.25 in interest. Outside the court, Reynolds argued that the ruling finally clears her name, emphasizing that the lawsuit was not purely political but a defense against grave personal attacks.
Reynolds’ legal team had maintained that their client was unfairly portrayed as a villain in Higgins’s narrative, countering claims about” political hit jobs”. Higgins had initially alleged that her assault had become a political issue for Reynolds ahead of the 2019 federal election, suggesting she felt unsupported and isolated by her boss.
This judgment comes in the wake of another high-profile defamation case, where a federal court previously ruled against Bruce Lehrmann, who had sued for defamation following reports that he had sexually assaulted Higgins. That case had concluded with substantial damages awarded to the media outlets and the journalist, Lisa Wilkinson, who broadcast the allegations.
Reynolds called for a significant payout and a permanent injunction to prevent further disparaging remarks, given the severity of the impact on her reputation. This decision serves as a pivotal moment in the ongoing reckoning with workplace harassment and the role of social media in defaming public figures.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/aug/27/brittany-higgins-defamation-trial-verdict-linda-reynolds-victory-ntwnfb
