Brittany Higgins made international headlines in 2021 when she claimed she was sexually attacked by a coworker and then coerced by her bosses to keep quiet.
Senator Linda Reynolds is contending in a high-profile trial that begins Friday that Ms Higgins harmed her reputation through a series of social media statements.
However, Ms Higgins maintains that the charges that her former supervisor attempted to “harass” and “silence” her are true.
The trial is the latest episode in a case that has triggered large protests, a string of legal fights, and multiple high-level reviews into the conduct of the judiciary.
Bruce Lehrmann has consistently denied raping Ms. Higgins, and a criminal verdict on the charge has never been reached. However, a court in a separate defamation claim earlier this year found Mr. Lehrmann did rape Ms. Higgins, but ruled that allegations of a cover-up were “speculation.”
Her lawyer claimed that Ms. Higgins and her husband, David Sharaz, made up a “fictional” story about the senator’s ostracization, harassment, and threatening behavior.
