Dennison v Refshauge [2003] NSWSC 78

Dennison v Refshauge [2003] NSWSC 78

The defendant established that the plaintiff had repeatedly presented misleading CVs, concealed his criminal past, made statements he knew were untrue, and had serious armed robbery convictions and imprisonment. Those matters made the pleaded imputations substantially true and, in any event, the true contextual imputations were so serious that they prevented further reputational injury from the pleaded imputation about fitness to be a board director.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
19 February 2003
Procedural Posture
Common Law Defamation / Trial Following a S 7 a Defamation Act 1974 Jury Finding of Defamatory Imputations; Determination of Defences
Outcome
Verdict for the defendant.
Legal Topics
['truth' 'contextual Imputations' 'public Interest' 'fit and Proper Person']
['defamation'] ['truth' 'contextual Imputations' 'public Interest' 'fit and Proper Person']

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Procedural Posture

Common Law Defamation / Trial Following a S 7 a Defamation Act 1974 Jury Finding of Defamatory Imputations; Determination of Defences

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the imputations that the plaintiff was not a man whose word could be trusted and was not a fit and proper person to be a director of the New England Area Health Service Board were matters of substantial truth.' "Whether the defendant's contextual imputations were matters of substantial truth and meant the plaintiff's pleaded imputations did not further injure his reputation."]

Ratio Decidendi

The defendant established that the plaintiff had repeatedly presented misleading CVs, concealed his criminal past, made statements he knew were untrue, and had serious armed robbery convictions and imprisonment. Those matters made the pleaded imputations substantially true and, in any event, the true contextual imputations were so serious that they prevented further reputational injury from the pleaded imputation about fitness to be a board director.

Court Disposition

Verdict for the defendant.

Orders

  • ['Verdict for the defendant.' "The plaintiff to pay the defendant's costs."]