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Radio giant ARN says Jackie 'O' Henderson effectively sacked herself by refusing to work with her co-host Kyle Sandilands after their fiery on-air clash.
That claim was contained in an amended defence filed by the Australian Radio Network (ARN), the owner of KIIS 106.5, in the Federal Court on Friday.
Henderson launched a Fair Work lawsuit against ARN after her $100million contract was torn up following an argument with Sandilands during a live broadcast of the Kyle & Jackie O Show in February.
At the time, Henderson's lawyers sent a letter of complaint to ARN stating she 'cannot continue to work with Mr Sandilands' due to alleged ongoing bullying, and tried to negotiate a different program and timeslot.
According to the fresh court filings, ARN claims Henderson's contract was specifically for the Kyle and Jackie O Show in the breakfast timeslot.
It argues Henderson effectively terminated her own contract by trying to wriggle out of those two major obligations.
ARN also labelled Henderson a 'bad leaver' under a loan share agreement tied to her contract, allowing the company to buy $3million worth of ARN stocks on her behalf.
If the broadcaster successfully argues that Henderson breached her agreement or walked away from her contract without cause, she could be required to repay the $3million.
Jackoe 'O' Henderson (pictured in Bondi in April) is suing her former employer ARN
Henderson is pictured with her former radio co-host, Kyle Sandilands
In the amended defence, ARN referred to a letter of complaint sent to ARN by Henderson's lawyers on March 3 - about two weeks after her argument with Sandilands.
Henderson's complaint said she 'would not present a radio program with Mr Sandilands again, and would not in future present a breakfast radio program'.
ARN claimed those statements were akin to Henderson ending her own employment, and therefore ARN's parent company CBC 'validly terminated' her contract that same day.
The amended defence also referred to a loan share agreement in Henderson's contract, which said she would not have to repay the $3million worth of company stocks unless she walked away from her agreement.
According to court documents, the contract said: 'Your loan will generally be waived in full on the loan repayment date.
'In certain "bad leaver" circumstances, the loan may not be waived, and may become repayable by you, at an earlier date.'
In the amended defence, ARN said the board had the power to determine whether the shares were forfeited if she was deemed a 'bad leaver'.
It was previously reported that ARN's board declared a 'bad leaver' event had occurred on April 29.
Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured in June) alleged she was bullied by her former co-host Kyle Sandilands
Kyle Sandilands (pictured in May) sued ARN for about $82million, but settled for about $12million
The shares were sold to repay the loan on May 5.
Henderson's amended statement of claim argued ARN terminated the contract unlawfully, meaning the bad leaver clause was never validly triggered.
ARN axed the $200million deal with the radio duo after a segment on the Kyle and Jackie O Show on February 20 where Sandilands said Henderson's 'fixation' on astrology made her 'almost unworkable'.
Henderson left the Sydney studio in tears.
Sandilands then said: 'You can't start crying about it, it's not that big a deal.'
According to Henderson's statement of claim, the broadcaster did not attempt to intervene or stop Sandilands.
On February 26, Henderson's lawyers wrote a letter of complaint explaining the broadcaster had been notified about Sandilands' 'bullying'.
Henderson also accused the broadcaster of failing to provide a safe work space.
Kyle Sandilands is pictured outside the Federal Court in Sydney earlier this year
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The letter said Henderson 'could not continue to work with Mr Sandilands', but that she was willing to continue her contract with a different show.
She had wanted CBC to propose an alternative to the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
ARN's lawyers replied on March 3, saying Henderson's letter of complaint equated to the termination of her $100million contract - which she disputes.
That same day, ARN released an ASX announcement titled 'The Kyle & Jackie O show', telling stakeholders: 'Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands.'
In her statement of claim, Henderson argued the announcement wrongly conveyed that she terminated her own contract and that she didn't intend to work for ARN anymore.
She also argued the announcement incorrectly stated she had been offered an alternative show on the ARN network.
Henderson accused the broadcaster of being 'misleading and deceptive', claiming she was never offered another show, nor did she give notice to end her employment.
She alleged the termination of her contract was a breach of the Fair Work Act, and is claiming compensation of at least $82.25million.
Henderson's Fair Work claim will be heard in the Federal Court in Sydney in October
ARN did not dispute alleged bullying by Sandilands, but claims it acted appropriately by doing welfare checks on Henderson, and that there were internal discussions following the on-air argument.
Sandilands' own $100million contract was torn up after Henderson left the program.
He settled his own civil claim against ARN for unfair dismissal in June.
He originally sued the radio giant for $82.5million, but walked away from the settlement with about $12million.
Henderson's case is set down for hearing in Sydney's Federal Court in October.
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