Scott v Bodley (No 2)

The case of Scott v Bodley (No 2) involved a dispute concerning a defamatory one-star review posted on the plaintiff's Google and Facebook business pages by the defendant for a period of 14 days. The plaintiff sought to establish that the review had caused serious harm to their reputation in accordance with section 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW). The case was heard and determined in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The court was required to decide whether the plaintiff had met the threshold of establishing "serious harm" as mandated by section 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW). This required an assessment of the extent of the harm to the plaintiff's reputation and whether it met the statutory threshold. The court also had to consider the impact of the duration of the posting of the review and the nature of the harm caused.

In reaching its decision, the court examined the evidence provided by the plaintiff regarding the impact of the review on their business. The court found that the evidence did not sufficiently demonstrate that the plaintiff had suffered serious harm to their reputation. The court noted that while the review was defamatory, the evidence did not convincingly show that the harm caused was of a serious nature. Consequently, the court concluded that the plaintiff had not met the burden of proving serious harm as required by section 10A of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW).

Accordingly, the court dismissed the plaintiff's proceedings. Additionally, pursuant to rule 28.2 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), the plaintiff was ordered to pay the defendant's costs of the proceedings, with liberty to apply.