Channel 7 wants axed Weekend Sunrise presenter Simon Reeve to pay back six years of company wages if he proves in court he was an employee and not an independent contractor.
The TV star is suing the Seven Network and seeking up to $1 million, alleging a breach of contract and misrepresentation to his employment after being unceremoniously dumped from the spotlight earlier this year.
Reeve is claiming 12 months’ salary in lieu of termination notice provided by the network, compensation for the failure to pay him annual leave and redundancy, interest and costs.
But in a cross-claim filed in the NSW registry of the Federal Court of Australia on Friday and obtained by news.com.au, the Seven Network states it entered into agreements with the 59-year-old’s company Simon Reeve Productions Pty Ltd (SRP) “for the provision of services”.
It states there was an “express term” in written agreements made in 2013, 2015 and 2016 that “SRP’s personnel (including Reeve) were not employees or servants of Seven”.
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SEVEN SUES REEVE IN RETURN
The TV network claims it made payments and GST payments believing it had contracts with SRP, that the services were being provided by SRP as an independent contractor, it was contractually obliged to pay SRP, “it did not have a contractual relationship with Reeve personally”, and “in undertaking services, Reeve was doing so as the representative of SRP”.
It states if Reeve “succeeds in the claims he makes against Seven, it will follow that one or more of Seven’s beliefs … was wrong” and the network made payments “under a mistake”.
Seven also throws the problem back on Reeve’s company, saying the presenter’s claims arise because SRP failed to pay him what he was owed.
“If … Seven is found to be liable to Reeve or SRP for the entitlements and amounts claimed, Seven is entitled to be repaid the amount of the payments and the GST payments from SRP, further or alternatively, from Reeve,” the cross-claim states.
The network further states it was blindsided by Reeve’s lawsuit.
“Reeve did not, at any time prior to 29 July 2020, advise Seven that he considered himself to be an employee of Seven and was providing services on that basis,” the document states.
It alleges “misleading and deceptive conduct” from SRP, arguing the company provided services to Seven between September 2014 and June 2020 as a contractor “and not by Reeve in the capacity of an employee”.
“If Seven is ordered to pay any compensation to Reeve, Seven will have suffered loss or damage because of the contravening conduct of SRP, further or alternatively, of Reeve and is entitled to compensation against them,” it states.
The cross-claim and defence were filed by Seven Network lawyer Ben Glenn Dudley on Friday – the cut-off day to do so, according to orders made by Justice Geoffrey Flick.
In September, the network’s barrister Yaseen Shariff told the court the parties had “diametrically opposed positions” and described Reeve’s claims as “ambitious”.
WHY IS REEVE SUING SEVEN?
Reeve is seeking declarations from Seven that he was an employee according to law for the purposes of the Fair Work Act, that they failed to provide annual leave payments, failed to provide notice and failed to provide redundancy pay.
“It was an implied term of the ongoing contract that Seven would provide Reeve with reasonable notice of termination,” his statement of claim, obtained by news.com.au, reads.
“Reasonable notice for Reeve as at 25 June 2020 given his age, seniority and length of service, was not less than 12 months’ notice of termination.”
It contends Seven “did not give Reeve notice of termination, or payment in lieu of notice” and further claims – from in or about 2016 – Seven failed to provide him with a pay slip “within one day of paying amounts to him in relation to the performance of work, or at all”.
But in its defence, the network argues “the period of notice of termination that was reasonable for Seven to give to SRP was no more than five weeks”.
It argues that at no time after February 2010 was Reeve employed by Seven or paid salary or wages by Seven, and the network was not obliged after that date to give him any pay slips.
DECADES SPENT AT THE NETWORK
Reeve worked with Seven on and off over the last four decades, starting as a Perth-based sports producer and reporter in 1979.
He rejoined the network in the early 2000s, providing Olympics commentary in 2004 and 2008 and hosting quiz show Million Dollar Minute and children’s game show It’s Academic.
On March 16 this year, Weekend Sunrise producer Matt McGrane told the sports presenter “to cease performing services”, according to his statement of claim.
The papers claim the direction, on behalf of Seven, was “express and oral in a telephone call”.
He was called by Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell on behalf of Seven on June 25.
“Reeve was notified of the termination of his engagement by reason of his role no longer being required to be performed by him or by anyone,” the court papers, filed by Reeve, state.
Reeve claims emails he received in July 2020 from network chairman and billionaire Kerry Stokes and Seven West Media chief operations officer Bruce McWilliam are evidence of being “treated as an employee of Seven by other officers and employees of Seven”, along with being “held out as a representative of Seven” by the use of his image in promotional material.
In an email on July 3, Stokes referred to Reeve as having just “been made redundant”.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
That same day, Mr McWilliam emailed Reeve to say he was “part of the DNA of this place since before I can remember”.
In another email on July 16, he wrote: “You’ll leave a big hole as you’ve been part of the weekend line up for so long. Won’t be the same without you as you’re part of our DNA.”
The parties are due back in court for a case management hearing on November 11, having previously been warned by Justice Flick they were “probably going to face mediation”.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMinAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L3NldmVuLW5ldHdvcmstd2FudHMtdG8tYmUtcmVwYWlkLWlmLWF4ZWQtc3Rhci1zaW1vbi1yZWV2ZS13aW5zLWluLWNvdXJ0L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvYzlkZDQ3OWVlOGM0OGNhZGFkY2NmYjkzMmJjOTgyZDbSAZwBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvZW50ZXJ0YWlubWVudC90di9zZXZlbi1uZXR3b3JrLXdhbnRzLXRvLWJlLXJlcGFpZC1pZi1heGVkLXN0YXItc2ltb24tcmVldmUtd2lucy1pbi1jb3VydC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2M5ZGQ0NzllZThjNDhjYWRhZGNjZmI5MzJiYzk4MmQ2?oc=5
2020-10-27 06:56:48Z
CBMinAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L3NldmVuLW5ldHdvcmstd2FudHMtdG8tYmUtcmVwYWlkLWlmLWF4ZWQtc3Rhci1zaW1vbi1yZWV2ZS13aW5zLWluLWNvdXJ0L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvYzlkZDQ3OWVlOGM0OGNhZGFkY2NmYjkzMmJjOTgyZDbSAZwBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvZW50ZXJ0YWlubWVudC90di9zZXZlbi1uZXR3b3JrLXdhbnRzLXRvLWJlLXJlcGFpZC1pZi1heGVkLXN0YXItc2ltb24tcmVldmUtd2lucy1pbi1jb3VydC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2M5ZGQ0NzllZThjNDhjYWRhZGNjZmI5MzJiYzk4MmQ2
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