Former Ten political reporter Tegan George has settled her case against the broadcaster after claiming she suffered severe trauma after reporting on the bushfires.
Daily Mail Australia understands Ms George finally reached an undisclosed settlement this month after being on sick leave for more than two years.
The 39-year-old Canberra-based former reporter sued the broadcaster in the ACT Supreme Court for negligence and breach of duty of care, alleging she was left suicidal and battling alcohol addiction after reporting on the deadly 2019-20 NSW south coast bushfires.
She said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares and turned to alcohol after witnessing scenes of livestock killed in the fire and terrified families fleeing their homes.
George said the trauma of the bushfires in Bega, Bermagui, Merimbula and Cobargo, which he covered between January 1 and 5, 2020, ruined his mental health and, in turn, his career.
She said she was “forced” to file a harrowing report about a father and son who died while trying to protect their dairy farm from a fire.
He also witnessed a panicked local threaten to start shooting others during a dispute over fuel as they desperately tried to escape the flames, court documents revealed.
George claimed TV bosses forced her to drive into danger zones at the height of the crisis as ash fell from the sky.
Tegan George says the trauma of the wildfires in Bega, Bermagui, Merimbula and Cobargo, which she covered between 1 and 5 January 2020, ruined her mental health and her career.
George alleged that TV bosses ordered him to drive into danger zones at the height of the fire crisis despite safety fears and ash falling from the black sky above his head.
She said she and a colleague ignored an instruction from news bosses in Canberra to drive to Bermagui, which had already been evacuated because of the imminent danger.
But they still had to zigzag down back roads to try to reach safety, and they never knew if their course would get them trapped by fire, he said.
She said Ten failed in its duty of care by failing to provide her with adequate training before sending her to cover the fires, failing to minimise the risk of injury and failing to identify the risk to her health and safety.
Her legal action claimed she was unable to sleep after the task, had difficulty concentrating or focusing her attention, had “numbness on the left side of her body” and at one point had to be admitted for full-time psychiatric care.
“A reasonable person would have considered that a person of ordinary strength might suffer from a recognized psychiatric illness if he or she failed to exercise reasonable care,” the suit alleged.
“If it were not for the (trauma), she would not have developed the psychological response to subsequent work events that she ultimately developed, culminating in George saying the trauma left her “intermittently unable to work from February 27, 2020 and then totally unable to work from June 7, 2021.”
Ten’s defense in the civil case denied all allegations of negligence and said George’s claim was based on the “benefit of hindsight.”
He added: “The defendant did not perceive any reasonably obvious contemporaneous ‘warning signs’.”
Ten News journalist Tegan George became suicidal and turned to alcohol after being traumatised by the devastating 2019-20 bushfires.
She and a colleague had to dodge the flames by zigzagging down back roads to try to reach safety, never knowing if they were driving into an inferno.
Her settlement comes ahead of a civil trial over her sexual discrimination claims against the network, which is now set to begin on February 3 of next year, more than three years after she first filed her suit.
An expanded statement of claim filed in the Federal Court claimed the network breached the Sex Discrimination Act because it was required to work in an environment hostile to women.
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