Kiwis crowdfund legal battle as MacGregor and Craig head back to court

Rachel MacGregor. Photo / Brett Phibbs

More than $20,000 has been crowdfunded for Rachel MacGregor's legal fees before she goes head to head with her former boss in court today.

According to the Givealittle page, The Rachel MacGregor Trust was established last year to help pay "considerable legal fees and costs" involved with the two-week trial.

Former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig alleges that MacGregor has defamed him, and MacGregor has laid a counterclaim alleging he has defamed her.

Both claims will be heard today in the High Court at Auckland.

MacGregor acted as a press secretary for Craig prior to the 2014 election but resigned days before voting commenced.

She filed a sexual harassment complaint against Craig and received an out-of-court settlement which went hand-in-hand with a confidentiality agreement.

However, in 2016 Craig was ordered to pay MacGregor more than $120,000 by the Human Rights Review Tribunal after it ruled he breached that confidentiality agreement in interviews about her.

Craig filed defamation proceedings against MacGregor and she followed with a counter-suit.

The trial is scheduled to begin in the High Court at Auckland today before Justice Hinton.

According to Stuff The Rachel MacGregor Trust was created by business woman Nicola Taylor, entrepreneur Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Stuff journalist Alison Mau and MacGregor's cousin Rosamund Edwards

The trust is chaired by Taylor.