Craig loses appeal in sex harassment saga

Former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig has lost his bid to overturn a court finding that he sexually harassed his press secretary.

• This story was first published by RNZ 

Today's Court of Appeal decision is the latest chapter in a years-long legal saga over the fallout from the 2014 election campaign, when Craig's staffer Rachel MacGregor suddenly resigned.

The appeal relates to a 2019 High Court judgement in Craig's defamation case against MacGregor.

Justice Hinton found that Craig and MacGregor had defamed each other to some extent.

But she also found Craig had sexually harassed his former employee - making her the third judge to reach that conclusion.

Craig went to the Court of Appeal to challenge that.

But the Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal and ordered Craig to pay costs.