Radio star Ray Hadley allegedly called a colleague’s girlfriend of Indian descent a ‘curry muncher’ in a 16-year campaign of workplace bullying, harassment and intimidation.
Hadley allegedly used the phrase to refer to 60 Minutes producer Naomi Shivaraman when she was in a relationship with his panel operator Chris Bowen.
Bowen alleges Hadley repeatedly called him a ‘f***ing poof’, ‘f***ing spastic’ and ‘poor simpleton’ when the pair worked together on 2GB’s morning program.
The 40-year-old’s barrister Shaun McCarthy said on Friday that Hadley had bullied, harassed and intimidated his client on ‘no less than 1,000 occasions’.
Bowen is suing the talkback titan in the New South Wales District Court for negligence and breaching duty of care.
Radio star Ray Hadley allegedly called his former panel operator Chris Bowen’s then girlfriend Naomi Shivaraman (pictured) a ‘curry muncher’ in a 16-year campaign of bullying, harassment and intimidation
Radio star Ray Hadley (pictured) allegedly viciously bullied a colleague almost daily for two decades and called another station announcer a ‘lazy, black c***’, a court has heard
Hadley’s onetime panel operator and producer Chris Bowen is suing the 2GB talkback host for negligence and breaching duty of care in the NSW District Court. Bowen is pictured with Baywatch star Pamela Anderson
The court heard Hadley had contacted a potential witness in Bowen’s case against him, describing his accuser as a ‘crazy’ man who could not be trusted.
Hadley allegedly denied in a text to fellow radio host Luke Bona he had called him a ‘lazy, black c***’ the day after that claim was first heard in court.
Hadley’s executive producer John Redman also allegedly contacted Bona, offering his son Jacob a job at 2GB, after the ‘black c***’ claim was made in court.
Bowen’s legal team is attempting to keep the identities of potential witnesses in the case from Hadley before the matter goes to any future trial.
‘Our concern is these people will not be prepared to give evidence should their identities be revealed prior to the trial,’ Mr McCarthy told the court.
Mr McCarthy said Bona had received a text message from Hadley at 5.45am on April 28 as he was driving home from working the overnight shift at MMM.
That was the day after Bona’s name had been mentioned in the Bowen court case.
In that text Hadley allegedly said words to the effect of, ‘Don’t listen to Bowen, he’s crazy, he’s mad. He’s a man of no credit. He suffers from a mental illness.’
‘Mr Hadley said to Mr Bona that he strongly supported him when it came to efforts to bring Mr Bona to 2GB at some previous time,’ Mr McCarthy told the court.
Bowen’s barrister Shaun McCarthy has said Hadley bullied his client ‘almost every day, often dozens of times a day, over a period of nearly 20 years.’ Bowen is pictured with radio legend John Laws, who he has described as his childhood hero
Mr McCarthy said Hadley’s executive producer John Redman texted Bona with a job offer for his son, who had previously worked at the station.
‘Ray said if Jacob wants to come back as a panel operator it’s a done deal,’ the text allegedly said. ‘He’ll find him a job somewhere. He’s also happy to have a chat with him if that helps.’
Hadley allegedly called 2GB broadcaster Luke Bona (pictured) a ‘lazy, black c***’
Mr McCarthy described Hadley as ‘a very powerful media figure’ in an industry which was a small world where everyone knew each other.
‘Mr Hadley is in a position to exert influence over the careers of other people,’ he told the court. ‘And we can see him doing that here.
‘He texts the witness and says unkind things about Mr Bowen. And secondly he’s lined up a job for the witness’s son.
‘These are extraordinary attempts… to interfere with the proper workings of this court.’
The court heard Bona had spoken to Bowen’s lawyer John Laxon since the matter was last before a registrar and Bona wanted to play no part in the case.
‘Everyone’s really nervous as Hadley can make or break people,’ Bona allegedly said. ‘It’s a very small market.
‘His text denies calling me a lazy, black c*** but I was told that he did and he was the main reason I was sacked from 2GB.’
Barrister Callan O’Neill, for Hadley, said there was no evidence of the ‘very serious’ allegation his client had attempted to intimidate potential witnesses and he was happy to give an undertaking he would not.
Lawyers for Hadley (pictured) submitted more detail was needed to be put before the court because Bowen had mental health issues before and after his employment at the radio station
Mr McCarthy said Bowen was making 175 separate allegations of bullying, harassment and intimidation against Hadley.
As well as the claimed abuse of Bowen, Hadley had allegedly referred to his panel operator’s then girlfriend Naomi Shivaraman as a ‘curry muncher’.
‘Mr Bowen is alleging Mr Hadley bullied, harassed, intimidated him on no less than 1,000 occasions when the pair worked shoulder to shoulder,’ Mr McCarthy said.
‘Mr Hadley denies every one of those allegations.’
Shivaraman was a 2GB producer and screen caller for several years and has since worked at Nova, the ABC, Sky News and Channel Seven, where she was chief of staff.
She is now a producer at Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program, which is owned by the same parent company as 2GB.
The first details of the case emerged in April when McCarthy said Hadley had bullied his client ‘almost every day, often dozens of times a day, over a period of nearly two decades.’
Bowen’s barrister Shaun McCarthy said Hadley used ‘vile, homophobic slurs’ against Bowen – who is not gay – at least 94 times during his years at the station
Mr McCarthy said the broadcaster used ‘vile, homophobic slurs’ against Bowen – who is not gay – at least 94 times during his years working at the station.
‘On 20 occasions Mr Hadley called my client a bald, fat c***,’ Mr McCarthy said, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Bowen claims he was traumatised and suffered psychiatric injury from Hadley’s alleged vilification and verbal abuse.
Hadley’s barrister said the damages claim against his 65-year-old client for intentional infliction of mental harm suffered from a ‘lack of factual underpinning’.
Mr O’Neill said Bowen had failed to provide precise dates or times for the incidents of alleged bullying and harassment against him, his wife and other employees.
He submitted more detail was needed because Bowen had mental health issues before and after his employment at the radio station.
Mr O’Neill said denying Hadley’s legal team access to Bowen’s witness list before a hearing put his client at an ‘extraordinary’ disadvantage which offended ‘every principle of open justice’.
Hadley’s legal team wanted to strike out most of Bowen’s statement of claim and for the matter to go to mediation.
But Mr McCarthy said: ‘We don’t want things held up even longer waiting for a mediation which may or may not be successful.’
On Friday New South Wales District Court Acting Judge James Curtis ordered Hadley and Bowen into mediation but also set a trial date for May next year
Hadley apologised on air last year for his behaviour, describing his relationship with Bowen as once having been like ‘father and son’.
‘I’ve admitted to my previous shortcomings, I’ve also made no secret of the fact that in recent years I have done everything I can to do better,’ he said at the time.
Registrar James Howard ruled in April he would provide Hadley’s lawyers with a list of potential witness’s roles but not their full identities.
On Friday Acting Judge James Curtis ordered the parties into mediation but also set a trial date for May next year.
During his time at 2GB Bowen also worked with Alan Jones, Ben Fordham, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Jason Morrison, Ron Casey, Stan Zemanek and Terry Willesee,
He helped organise and produce the station’s Beijing and London Olympic broadcasts and hosted variety and lifestyle shows.
Bowen was also executive producer of 2GB’s Continues Call Team rugby league program, working alongside Hadley for seven years.