Jackie O Henderson’s radio lawsuit returns to Federal Court after ARN settles with Kyle Sandilands for $12m

Jackie O Henderson’s multimillion-dollar legal battle against ARN will proceed to trial despite Kyle Sandilands settling his parallel Federal Court proceedings.

The former radio star’s lawsuit returned to the Federal Court on Thursday, less than 24 hours after ARN announced it had reached a $12.09 million settlement with Sandilands, bringing his separate legal action to an end.

Henderson was not present for the brief case management hearing in Sydney, but her best friend and manager, Gemma O’Neill, watched proceedings from the public gallery.

At the start of the hearing, Justice Angus Stewart acknowledged the settlement had fundamentally changed the landscape of the litigation.

“The date of the 12th of October was set, and obviously very different circumstances to where we are today,” he said.

“Most notably two things. One, Mr Sandilands’ case has been settled… all of that’s gone away.”

Despite this, Henderson’s barrister, Vanja Bulut, urged the court to keep the existing October trial dates.

“Certainly from my client’s perspective, Your Honour, we’re very keen to keep those dates and we have been working expeditiously to get all our evidence on,” she said.

“All of our evidence is now on and we’re very much progressing the matter to that October date hearing.”

Justice Stewart ultimately agreed to retain the existing 10-day October trial window despite the settlement of Sandilands’ proceedings.

Justice Stewart directed the parties to exchange proposed discovery categories after the respondents’ evidence is filed, with any dispute expected to be heard in late August.

He also revealed Henderson’s case may ultimately be transferred to another judge following the settlement of the Sandilands proceedings because “employment is not an area that I generally do”.

“I was doing this case because I was doing the other case and they almost inevitably had to be heard together,” he said.

“But I may still do this case. It’s still to be worked on.”

The hearing concluded with an argument over costs arising from ARN’s decision to discontinue a cross-claim against Henderson in the now-settled Sandilands proceedings.

After hearing submissions from both sides, Justice Stewart ordered the respondents to pay Henderson’s costs of that discontinued cross-claim.

The legal dispute stems from the dramatic collapse of The Kyle and Jackie O Show in February after Sandilands berated Henderson live on air, accusing his long-time co-host of being “off with the fairies” and “mental” during a discussion about astrology.

Henderson left the studio in tears and later told ARN she could no longer work with Sandilands.

Both broadcasters’ lucrative $100 million contracts were subsequently terminated, prompting them to launch separate Federal Court proceedings against ARN.

Sandilands claimed he was unlawfully dismissed and sought about $85 million in damages, while Henderson is seeking at least $82.25 million through claims alleging unlawful adverse action under the Fair Work Act, breach of contract and misleading or deceptive conduct.

ARN denies Henderson’s allegations, maintains it lawfully terminated her contract after she repudiated the agreement by refusing to continue working with Sandilands, and has filed a cross-claim seeking damages and indemnity for alleged losses arising from the termination of the breakfast show.

On Wednesday, ARN announced it had reached a binding settlement with Sandilands, agreeing to pay him $12.09 million to resolve all claims and counterclaims between the parties.

Under the deal, Sandilands will receive $3 million next month, with the balance to be paid in monthly instalments until June 2029.

ARN will also provide $1.5 million in advertising for his new independent media venture, receive a 19.9 per cent share of its net revenue for up to three years, and Sandilands has agreed not to work for a rival radio broadcaster for up to nine months.

Henderson’s matters remain ongoing and will proceed to trial in October.