Linda Reynolds, Brittany Higgins Defamation Trial: Day Six

Linda Reynolds denies knowing Brittany Higgins had been sexually assaulted before meeting her in the same office, on the same couch where she was raped.

On Friday, Ms Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, told Ms Reynolds she was likely aware something sexual had happened in the early morning of March 23, 2019.

Mrs. Reynolds insisted she didn’t know and didn’t want to assume.

Ms Young pointed out that Ms Reynolds knew that Ms Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann had entered her office drunk in the early morning hours.

Before the meeting in her office with Ms. Higgins on April 1, 2019, she also knew that Ms. Higgins had been found naked on the couch.

Mrs Reynolds also knew that Mrs Higgins had been so drunk she had suffered memory loss, that security guards were concerned about her, that she wanted to see a doctor and that she had told a supervisor: ‘I remember him on top of me’.

Ms Young asked Ms Reynolds if she really did not know that something sexual had taken place, given her knowledge of those details.

Ms Reynolds said she was concerned about Ms Higgins but was ‘old enough and experienced enough’ to know not to jump to conclusions.

The senator told the court she was pleased that Ms Higgins had seen a doctor and had been given a leaflet with counselling services.

On 29 March 2019, Ms Reynolds’ chief of staff Fiona Brown told her that Ms Higgins’ father was travelling from the Gold Coast to Canberra to support her.

In court on Friday, Reynolds said she was convinced Higgins’ father came because of the security breach, not an attack.

Ms Young then referred to an email Ms Reynolds received on March 30, 2019, from another employee, Lauren Barons, stating that Ms Higgins had been given a brochure for the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

She had also been given a helpline for cases of violence, 1800RESPECT.

The email raised concerns about Ms Higgins and stated that Ms Reynolds should continue to support her and ‘provide her with the help she needs to decide whether she wanted to take this further’.

Ms Reynolds said she saw the email as ‘confirmation’ that Ms Higgins had not been raped, as there had been no allegations.

Ms. Young asked Ms. Reynolds if she was aware that it can take a long time for rape victims to report the crime. The senator agreed.

However, she continued to maintain that she did not know an attack had taken place, as Mrs Higgins had said she could not remember it.

Ms Reynolds said she was the right person to deal with the security breach, but “I felt really wrong-footed” as an employer with an employee who was drunk.

She decided that she was not the right person to discuss her personal complaints with and was glad she went to the doctor and got help.