Goldberg v Voigt [2020] NSWDC 174

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Goldberg v Voigt [2020] NSWDC 174 Hearing dates: 13-14 February 2020 Date of orders: 07 May 2020 Decision date: 07 May 2020 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Weinstein SC DCJ Decision: I award the plaintiff the sum of $35,000 in damages for defamation. I will hear the parties on the question of costs. The plaintiff is to pay the defendant the sum of $8,000 as a fixed sum for her costs incurred in proceedings 2019/00294969. Catchwords: Defamation – Application for assessment of damages - offer to make amends out of time – statement of claim as concerns notice – Facebook publication– closed group – serious imputations including killer and stalker of women – limited dissemination – grapevine effect Legislation Cited: Defamation Act 2005 Cases Cited: Bolton v Stoltenberg [2018] NSWSC 1518 Carson v John Fairfax & Sons (1993) 178 CLR 44 Collier v Country Women's Association of NSW [2017] NSWSC 1573 Consolidated Trust Co Ltd v Browne (1948) 49 SR (NSW) 86 Cripps v Vakras [2014] VSC 279 Hockey v Fairfax Media [2015] FCA 652 Mohareb v Booth [2020] NSWCA 49 Palmer Bruyn & Parker v Parsons (2001) 208 CLR 388 Rush v Nationwide News Pty Ltd (No 7) [2019] FCA 496 Triggell v Pheeney (1951) 82 CLR 497 Zoef v Nationwide News PTY Ltd [2016] NSWCA 283 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Bruce Goldberg (Plaintiff) Alice Voigt (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr Matthew Richardson (Plaintiff) Mr Keiran Smark SC (Defendant)