Former prime minister Scott Morrison is among dozens of people being sought by government lawyers as they build a defence against a compensation claim by Brittany Higgins’ former boss.

The former Liberal leader became ensnared in Fiona Brown’s case after she alleged he made a false statement to parliament after the Higgins rape scandal erupted in 2021.

Brown, a former staffer in Morrison’s office, is suing the Commonwealth for damages, saying the government gagged her from responding to accusations about her handling of Higgins’ claims.

She held a leadership role in the then-PM’s office in February 2021 and was chief of staff to then-senator Linda Reynolds in 2019 when Higgins says a fellow Reynolds staffer raped her in Parliament House.

Brown’s lawsuit returned to the Federal Court on Monday when Justice Nye Perram ordered mediation in late April or early May after the Commonwealth filed its defence.

The federal government’s barrister, Matthew Minucci, asked for additional time to prepare the document, saying his client needed to contact the 32 people named in Brown’s lawsuit, including Morrison.

Brown’s amended statement of claim was filed in late November.

Perram agreed to hold two separate hearings for the matter, first on arguments about the government’s liability for the alleged failures and the amount of damages it will have to pay.

A second hearing on penalties will then be held if the government does not successfully defend the lawsuit.

In a 106-page court filing, Brown alleges she was sidelined from leadership meetings and Morrison refused to talk to her after the scandal broke in early 2021.

Labor later used question time to probe Morrison about claims Brown had not supported Higgins, leading him to say: “I have had these conversations with the member of staff.”

“I have discussed with her those matters and the support provided to her at the time in the messages that were sent to her,” he told parliament.

Morrison subsequently spoke briefly with Brown for the first and only time, she claims.

“We’ve spoken, haven’t we?” he allegedly said.

The filing said a “bewildered” Brown responded “yes” and Morrison walked off.

“[Brown] complained that she felt frightened, intimidated and distressed by prime minister Morrison,” the filing said.

Morrison has been contacted for comment.

Brown also accuses him and his top-level advisers of stopping her from personally responding to allegedly false allegations made by Higgins.

Higgins’ appearance on Network Ten’s The Project included identifying Brown by name and accusing her of misconduct for the mishandling of the rape, the documents said.

Contradicting Higgins’ claim was a text she allegedly sent to Brown, thanking her for her support immediately after the rape.

Brown, who is suing under the Fair Work Act, alleges the federal government scapegoated and sidelined her, causing her psychological injury to the point she attempted suicide.

In an earlier Federal Court case, Justice Michael Lee found she had shown compassion and integrity in her handling of Higgins’ complaint but she had been unfairly “vilified as an unfeeling apparatchik” seeking to cover up a crime.

Lee’s finding that on the balance of probabilities Bruce Lehrmann raped Higgins was confirmed by the full Federal Court in December.

Lehrmann’s criminal trial was derailed due to juror misconduct.

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-AAP