Fitness guru and entrepreneur Lorna Jane Clarkson has revealed that she has been embroiled in a drawn-out court battle with an ex-employee who claims she had been body-shamed by her boss.
The 52-year-old Australian clothing designer spoke with Jules Sebastian on her Youtube show, Tea With Jules regarding the accusations of Amy Robinson, who sued Clarkson’s company alleging she had been bullied and shamed about her weight by her superiors.
Earlier this month, a judge ruled that Robinson – who was seeking more than $500,000 in damages claiming her six-month role at the company had left her depressed and with little self-confidence was a ‘liar’ with a ‘personality disorder.’
District Court judge Greg Koppenol said, ‘I do not accept Ms Robinson’s evidence that she was bullied by [her boss],’
Clarkson said Robinson’s allegations ‘broke her heart.’
‘I went through a time when the media was portraying me in a way that was completely not who I was,’ she told Tea With Jules.
‘I’d spent 25 years building a brand and inspiring women, and then one person comes out and says one thing and the media just want to go with… It broke my heart.’
Clarkson said her confidence was so shattered, she felt she couldn’t speak publicly in defence of herself or her company.
‘I felt like I couldn’t even speak about it, which is probably one of my mistakes because I just hid in a little hole,’ she said.
But there was one thing the activewear mogul learned through the heartbreaking ordeal, and now she’s sharing it with her followers in a new book.
‘The only way to fight negativity is to be yourself. Be yourself and prove them wrong,’ she told Jules Sebastian.
‘Because how could what people are saying about me be right when I’ve spent 25 years doing the complete opposite. I feel like people know it’s not true now, it’s been proven, things have gone through the court system.’
