Footy great Warren Tredrea loses $6million Covid vaccine legal battle with Channel Nine

A lawsuit brought by AFL great Warren Tredrea against former employer Channel Nine for sacking him when he refused to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates has been dismissed.

The former Port Adelaide forward claimed the broadcaster unfairly terminated his $192,500-a-year contract as South Australian sports presenter in January 2022 for refusing to get vaccinated.

Tredrea argued that Nine’s direction requiring staff to be vaccinated was unreasonable because the virus posed a low risk of disease, the vaccine was not particularly effective and it posed health risks to recipients.

He sought nearly $6 million in damages for lost wages.

Judge Geoffrey Kennett dismissed Tredrea’s application at a Federal Court hearing on Thursday, agreeing with Nine’s claim that it had the right to terminate its contract to protect itself from damage to its reputation.

“The evidence does not show that the decision to terminate the services agreement was anything other than reasonable, in the sense of a genuine attempt to protect Channel Nine’s legitimate interests,” Judge Kennett wrote in his judgment.

Nine, as an employer, had an interest in its workers being able to go to work without interruptions and respecting the “wishes and concerns of the vast majority of the workforce who wanted people with whom they had contact to be vaccinated”, the ruling said. .

Judge Kennett found that Tredrea undermined Nine’s efforts to manage its workforce by refusing to inform his employer of his vaccination status.

He also posed a risk to the company’s reputation through his outspoken public comments against the Covid vaccine, which opposed Nine’s public position.

“Mr Tredrea was a controversial figure who was talked about in other media in a way that was not welcomed by Channel Nine,” Judge Kennett said.

“Instead of having the studied neutrality of a newsreader, in public discourse he was associated with an unpopular point of view on a topic that could provoke strong emotions.”

Tredrea has been ordered to pay Nine’s legal costs but will be allowed to make a claim about why he should not have to pay them.

Speaking outside his lawyers’ offices in Adelaide, Tredrea said it was a disappointing result but flagged a possible appeal.

“We didn’t have any problems with the green today, but it may not be over,” he told reporters.

‘It has been a significant (financial) outlay to take on this, but we are very convinced that we have followed the right path. We wouldn’t have gotten this far if we hadn’t.

Tredrea, who retired as a player in 2010, was Port’s all-time leading scorer and only AFL captain.