Zimmerman v Perkiss [2022] NSWDC 448

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Zimmerman v Perkiss [2022] NSWDC 448 Hearing dates: 11 August, 7 September 2022 Date of orders: 7 October 2022 Decision date: 07 October 2022 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: Order: (1) Pursuant to s 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) and Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 28.2, the plaintiff has failed to prove that publication of the matter complained of caused or was likely to cause harm to her reputation and the claim is dismissed. (2) Costs reserved, with liberty to apply. (3) Exhibits retained until further order. Catchwords: TORT - defamation - Facebook Messenger publication to the plaintiff's employer from the mother of her former employer - whether plaintiff has established "serious harm" conformably with s 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) Legislation Cited: Defamation Act 2013 (UK) s 1 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) ss 10A and 12A(1)(a)(ii) Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) s 5 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 56 Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW), cl 2. Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 91R(1)(b) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 28.2 Cases Cited: Alsaifi v Trinity Mirror plc & Board of Directors and another [2017] EWHC 2873 (QB) Banks v Cadwalladr [2022] EWHC 1417 (QB) Bazzi v Dutton [2022] FCAFC 84 Bent v. Platnick, 2020 SCC 23 Bode v Mundell [2016] EWHC 2533 (QB) Browne v Dunn 1894 6 R 67 Defteros v Google Inc [2020] VSC 219 Defteros v Google Inc [2021] VSCA 167 Gatto v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2021] VSC 83 George v Cannell and another [2021] EWHC 2988 (QB) Harris v 718932 Pty Limited [2003] NSWCA 38 Herron v Harpercollins Publications Australia Pty Ltd (No 2) [2022] FCAFC 119 Hewson v Times NL & anor [2019] EWHC 650 (QB) Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2015] FCA 652 Hodges v Naish [2021] EWHC 1805 In the Matter of ACN 005 408 462 Pty Ltd (Formerly Teac Australia Pty Ltd) [2008] FCA 1184 Ingot Capital Investments Pty Ltd v Macquarie Equity Capital Markets (No 6) [2007] NSWSC 124 Johnson v McArdle [2020] EWHC 644 (QB) Jones v Amalgamated Television Services Pty Ltd (1991) 36 NSWLR 364 Nanosecond Corp Pty Ltd v Glen Carron Pty Ltd (No 2) [2018] SASC 188 Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Hibbert [2015] NSWCA 13 Newman v Whittington [2022] NSWSC 249 Ontario Limited v. Pointes Protection Association, 2020 SCC 22 Perkins v Floradale Productions Pty Ltd & Ors (District Court of NSW, Walmsley SC DCJ, 28 May 2013, unreported) R v Pashahzahiri [2014] O.J. No. 4801 Rader v Haines [2022] NSWCA 198 Ruta v Department for Work and Pensions [2022] EWHC 1535 (QB) Slaven v Prime Media Group Limited [2019] NSWDC 502 Speight v Gosnay (1891) 60 LJ QB 231 CA Taylor v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2022] FCA 14 Tewari v Khetarpal [2022] EWHC 266 Thornton v Telegraph Media Group Ltd [2011] EWHC 1884 (QB) Toomey v John Fairfax & Sons Ltd (1985) 1 NSWLR 291 Toomey v Mirror Newspapers Ltd (1985) 1 NSWLR 173 Tsamis v Victoria (No 8) (costs) [2020] VSC 67 Turley v Unite the Union and another [2019] EWHC 3547 V'Landys v Australian Broadcasting Commission (No 3) [2021] FCA 500 VBAO v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2006) 233 CLR 1 Wen Yue He v Chinese Newspapers Pty Ltd [2005] NSWSC 253 Wilks v Qu (Ruling) [2022] VCC 620 Texts Cited: C Sewell, "More serious harm than good? An empirical observation and analysis of the effects of the serious harm requirement in section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013", (2020) Journal of Media Law DOI: 10.1080/177577632.2020.1776560 D Ipp in "Problems with Fact-finding" (2006) 80 Australian Law Journal 667 D Rolph "A Serious Harm Threshold for Australian Defamation Law" (2022) 51 Australian Bar Review 185 Explanatory Note to the Defamation Amendment Bill 2020 (NSW) New South Wales, Department of Justice, Council of Attorneys-General Review of the Model Defamation Provisions - Background Paper, (December 2019) New South Wales, Department of Justice, Stage 2 Review of the Model Defamation Provisions, (22 August 2022) Second Reading Speech (Legislative Assembly), 29 July 2020 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Katie Zimmermann Defendant: Kim Perkiss Representation: Counsel: Ms M Hall (Plaintiff) Mr J O'Connor (Defendant)