The Federal Court heard that the Seven Network claims that since the senior reporter was fired at the end of June, 13 other women have come forward with complaints about Robert Ovadia’s conduct.

The veteran Sydney reporter was fired in June while Seven conducted an internal investigation into allegations of “inappropriate conduct”.

Two weeks later, the 51-year-old was fired and described the allegations as “malicious”.

“Yes, I have been dismissed and there will be more to say about that in the appropriate forum at the appropriate time,” Ovadia told Guardian Australia at the time.

Ovadia insisted that the allegations were false and appointed employment lawyer John Laxon of Sydney law firm Laxon Lex Lawyers to represent him.

He filed a claim for unfair dismissal against Seven Network and Seven West Media news and editor-in-chief Anthony De Ceglie.

At the first case hearing on Thursday, Seven’s lawyer Vanja Bulut said the defendants had emailed evidence of complaints from 13 other women about Ovadia’s conduct.

“After the applicant’s dismissal, 13 other women came forward with complaints about his conduct and are now being investigated,” Bulut told Federal Judge Elizabeth Raper.

“The applicant has been informed of this. That is, my instructors have written to our learned friend’s instructors setting out the additional allegations that have come to light since the dismissal, to the extent that those allegations are recorded in documents.”

Bulut said the conduct that came to light “actually provides a basis for immediate dismissal” and that Seven would rely on the additional allegations in its defense.

Ovadia’s attorney Andrew Gotting argued that although some information had been sent to his client, it had been redacted and lacked details.

“This deletion was made without the applicant’s consent,” said Gotting. “There is a lot of material that appears to be being used to defend against a contractual claim that was not made available to the applicant.”

Gotting asked the court to first order Seven to present its evidence. “If there are allegations of serious misconduct, the responsibility lies with the employer,” he said. Raper rejected this request.

Bulut opposed Ovadia’s request for mediation, saying Seven “sees no benefit in mediation.”

However, Raper ordered the parties to attend mediation on a date to be set by a court officer in October and said everyone must appear in person. An earlier Fair Work Commission mediation, which had failed, was conducted by video link.

If mediation is successful, the case may be settled before trial.

Raper ordered that the defendants file and serve their defenses by September 12, and that the plaintiff file and serve its reply, if any, by October 12.

The proceedings are scheduled to begin on February 10, 2025.

After the hearing, Ovadia told Guardian Australia: “The allegations are baseless and Seven has never provided evidence despite repeated requests.”

Even today there is no evidence of this – it’s all just a dirty tactic and headline to dissuade me from defending myself.”