Federal Court … Former Liberal Leader John Hewson and Nine reach settlement … Trial scheduled to start … A Current Affair story on disgruntled insurance claimant … Claim rejected because flood caused damage, not storm … Hewson pleaded imputations he failed to direct claim be paid out, acted negligently and incompetently … Aggravated damages sought … Justice Wigney congratulates the parties … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Category: Settlements
Settlements aplenty
Federal Court … Settlements … Conservative Indigenous activist Jacinta Nampipinja Price secures apology from ABC … Follows apology from Coffs Harbour Land Council … Former Leighton’s CFO Peter Gregg settles with Fairfax … Barrister Evatt Tamine obtains apology from Fairfax … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Hafertepen v Network Ten Pty Ltd
Network Ten ordered to place clarification in more prominent place … Acted in bad faith on settlement agreement … Specific performance of agreement … Buried on Terms of Use page … Indemnity costs awarded over unreasonable conduct … Denied legible copies of letters sent to other media organisations … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Dylan Hafertepen v Network Ten
Network Ten denies it acted in bad faith over clarification … Seattle man who sued over The Project story implicating him in partner’s death … Private letter, letters to media organisations, clarification part of settlement … Clarification published on Terms of Use page … Media letters sent in low-res photo … Media letters access no abuse of process … Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports … more
Adam Lang v Michael Smith
Former radio boss settles with rabid blogger Michael Smith … $100,000 plus costs … Online attacks over Lang’s management of Macquarie Media … “Wanton incompetence and pathological ineptitude” … “Bumbling inept buffoon” … Smith unsuccessfully requested that consent orders not be made public … Stephen Murray reports … more
Deborah Ann Wilson trading as Pelican Takeaway Café v Cyrell Paule & Anor
Mediation … Settlement … Apologies by reality TV personality and Nine Digital … Racist flare-up at Shoal Bay café … Instagram post … Mistake as to the identity of the person making defamatory remarks … Parties to pay their own costs … Stephen Murray reports … more
John Jarratt v Nationwide News
Settlement of actor’s claim against the Sunday Telegraph … Imputation that he “got away with rape” in reports following acquittal on an historic sexual assault charge … Implication that applicant was guilty … Apology … Stephen Murray report … more
Victor Dominello v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd trading as 2GB (No. 2)
NSW government minister settles with 2GB over false corruption claim … Disagreement over terms of the offer of amends … Defendant wanted to explore the availability of a common law public figure defence … Further offer of amends … Lost motion to adopt contextual imputations pleaded by the defendant … Abuse of process … Reasonable expenses … Costs … Finalisation of the proceedings … Stephen Murray reports … more
Tom Domican v Pan Macmillan & John Ibrahim
$100,000 settlement and an injunction against further publication of John Ibrahim’s allegations against well-known Sydney identity Tom Domican … Settlement follows truth defence being knocked out in August … Suggestions of the applicant’s criminality not sufficiently established … Security work for a prominent drug dealer did not mean Domican was knowingly involved in crime … Consent orders … Stephen Murray reports … more
Emma Husar v BuzzFeed
A form of words as BuzzFeed and former Labor MP settle … The respondents “acknowledge they should have given Ms Husar an opportunity to respond” before the article was published … Husar tweets that this “unprecedented reporting … should never have happened” … Onwards and upwards from here on … Stephen Murray reports … more
Emma Husar v BuzzFeed
Former MP Emma Husar and BuzzFeed reach a settlement … Waiting for signatures from New York … Member of parliament accused of sexual misconduct … Commercial resolution sensible where trial outcome would be uncertain … Applicant likely to seek permanent suppression orders … Stephen Murray reporting … more
John Grygiel v Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Settlement in cancer doctor case … Allegations of under-dosing patients at St Vincents in Sydney … Clinical governance … ABC did not mean to convey an accusation that the plaintiff physically harmed patients … Apology … Stephen Murray reports … more