Radio host Jackie “O” Henderson has launched legal action against ARN, alleging her KIIS FM contract was unlawfully terminated after she raised bullying and psychosocial safety concerns about long‑time co-host Kyle Sandilands.
Proceedings have been filed in the Federal Court against Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation Pty Ltd (CBC), a subsidiary of ARN which holds the KIIS 1065 Sydney licence and was contracted with Henderson and her services company.
According to ARN’s market announcement this morning, the applicants claim the termination of Henderson’s contract “constituted adverse action”. The company says she sent a “Complaint Letter” stating she “cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands” and making “psychosocial health and safety and bullying complaints in relation to the conduct of Mr Kyle Sandilands on and prior to 20 February 2026”.
It is alleged that by sending the Complaint Letter, she was using (or planning to use) her workplace rights, and that her contract was then ended because of that, in breach of section 340 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). It is also alleged that ending her contract in this way “amounted to a repudiation of that agreement”.
Henderson is further claiming that ARN’s ASX market announcement on 3 March 2026, which says the termination of her contract, included “misleading and deceptive statements under the Australian Consumer Law”.
Henderson is seeking compensation of “at least $82,250,000”, as well as a pecuniary penalty, plus interest and costs. ARN has told investors it “disputes the claims” and “intends to defend the proceedings”, noting that given the early stage of the matter it cannot reliably estimate the outcome or any potential financial impact.
Workplace relations lawyer Michael Byrnes previously told PEDESTRIAN.TV, when Sandilands first announced he was going to take legal action, that “the vast, overwhelming majority of workplace relations disputes end in settlement and resolution”, usually behind closed doors.
But he also flagged that the size of the claims and ARN’s position as a listed media company could make this “a real financial challenge” for the broadcaster.
“ARN itself — it’s not Netflix, it’s not Amazon. They don’t have a market capitalisation of billions and billions of dollars where a settlement of say, just to pick a number out of the air, $40 or $50 million is not significant,” he explained to P.TV.
Because of that, he says, “I think it is very likely to end up in court”, adding that a breach of contract claim like this “can take some years” to move through the courts, especially when it is about money rather than getting someone reinstated.
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