DEFAMATION CASES By Zac, Riddhi, Sarah and Carli

Book case; Defamation Case The Victorian Supreme Court ordered Phil Cleary and his publisher Allen & Unwin to pay $630,000 in damages. Barrister Lacey claimed that Cleary’s book Getting Away with Murder contained material that was defamatory, which he claimed that his sisters death was caused by her husband. Cleary claimed that the jury of six women favoured Barrister Lacey. Mr Ramage, Cleary’s sister husband was found guilty of manslaughter after he claimed that his wife criticised his sexual performance and was jailed for 11 years.

Internet Case; Defamation Case A woman named Tracy Adams was sued for defamation over a advising her manager that she planned to quit her job as an accounts manager at Total Fasteners, an industrial parts supplier in NSW. In the , Adams described her manager, Alan Bristow, as “untrustworthy and cunning by nature”, accusing him of “lying, laziness and theft”. “I can’t understand why Total Fasteners would choose to lose a competent and reliable employee, to keep a so- called manager of questionable and dishonest character,” Adams stated in the . But in addition to Alan Bristow, the was sent to the company’s human resources manager and two other company sites including the head office, before being sent to other employees. Tracy Adams was sued for defamation by Alan Bristow who claimed the resulted in him feeling ‘nauseated’ and ‘depressed’. The case was first held at the NSW District Court (equivalent to the Magistrate’s court in Victoria) so there wasn’t a jury present, just a judge. As the case proceeded, it was dismissed by the NSW district court judge (equivalent to the Magistrate in Victoria) after the judge concluded that there was no actual proof that supported Bristow’s claims that there was harm to his reputation. While District Court Judge Leonard Levy ruled there was no proof Bristow’s reputation suffered any harm, the Court of Appeal found that was not the case. Bristow appealed to the Court of Appeal and the court overturned the decision and awarded Bristow $10,000.