Radio queen Jackie “O” Henderson has expanded her legal brawl with her former employer ARN to include a claim the broadcaster breached a $3m loan agreement under which shares in the company were bought on her behalf.
Henderson is persevering with her Federal Court lawsuit against ARN, despite her former co-host Kyle Sandilands settling, after their monster 10-year agreements were torn up in the wake of their now-famous on-air blow up.
She is suing ARN and its subsidiary the Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, alleging her sacking amounted to adverse action after she said she could no longer work on the KIIS FM breakfast show with Sandilands.
In her statement of claim, Henderson said she was seeking compensation for at least $82m after her 10-year, $100m contract was torn up.
According to documents filed with the court and released on Tuesday, Ms Henderson has amended her claim to include an allegation the broadcaster breached an agreement for a $3m loan for her to purchase shares in the company.
“It was an express term of the Agreement that CBC would provide Henderson Media with a limited recourse loan equal to $3,000,000 for the purpose of purchasing ordinary shares in ARN,” her lawyers state in an amended statement of claim filed with the court.
According to the court documents, Ms Henderson’s lawyers argue she entered into an agreement with ARN in October 2023 for the loan to acquire ARN ordinary shares.
They argue that under the terms of the agreement, ARN was only entitled to sell the shares on behalf of Ms Henderson and her company, Henderson Media, if she breached the agreement or if she terminated it, under certain circumstances.
It’s alleged that on April 29, the ARN board declared a “bad leaver” event had occurred and sold the shares to repay the loan.
“(The company’s solicitors) did not describe the basis on which the Board of ARN had determined that a ‘bad leaver’ event occurred,” Ms Henderson’s lawyers said in the amended statement of claim.
Ms Henderson says she neither breached nor terminated the loan agreement.
She is seeking compensation for ARN’s alleged breach of the deal.
During their blow up, Sandilands claimed Henderson was “off with the fairies” as he commented on her “fixation” with astrology.
“You’re off with the fairies, you’re unfocused, you don’t give a s***,” Mr Sandilands said in the segment.
ARN is defending the lawsuit and in court documents states that after their on-air blow-up that “Ms Henderson and Mr Sandilands had a heated argument off air”.
ARN argues that Henderson Media and Sandilands’ company, Quasar, were “solely responsible for controlling the manner in which it provides Program Services” for the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
“Consequently, once any broadcast began, (Commonwealth Broadcasting Company) had no ability or power to contemporaneously prevent Mr Sandilands from engaging in bullying or other unwanted conduct towards Ms Henderson,” the company said in its defence filed with the Federal Court.
It says that under the terms of its $9.4m-a-year detail with Henderson Media, that her company is “responsible for ensuring the health and safety of Ms Henderson whilst performing the Program Services”.
Originally published as Jackie O’s big new $3m claim against former employer
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