#20964
Jimmy-T
Keymaster

    @Stumped said:
    I was told at last month’s EC Meeting that a motion would be put to the Owners Corp at an EGM scheduled for the end of this month to apply a special levy so that the Owners Corp could sue me personally in the Supreme Court.  This is due to my attempts to convey to Lot Owners what’s going on within our Strata via a website.  I didn’t make a single statement; I simply collected information available on the web plus added documents that have already been circulated within the Strata – documents from the CTTT, EC Members etc – and popped all of this on the site.  My ‘opponents’ claim this is all defamatory.

    I’m not a lawyer, let alone a defamation lawyer, but having been involved on the periphery of a defamation case in a strata scheme, I can tell you this much:  Discussion and the passage of information within the owners of a scheme attracts a level of “qualified privilege” which allows for the free exchange of information and opinions.  Your mistake may have been if you made the website publicly available.

    Elements that diminish qualified privilege include publication to a wider audience (ie people who are not members of the owners corporation) and malice. Truth is a partial defence against defamation claims and i think a corporation may have to prove actual malicious intent if they were to claim damages.

    It’s at this point that I feel I should stop writing and suggest you consult a defamation lawyer.

    However, if I were in your shoes I would be making sure that every owner in the building knew that their money – and potentially substantial mounts of it – were about to be wasted on a quixotic attempt to silence concerned owners.  The chances of them winning, and getting enough in damages to cover their costs, are debatable.  

    But one group is guaranteed to benefit – the lawyers who are hired by the EC.

    Wait until the agenda is published and then hit all the owners in the building with a letter telling them why they need to reject the motion. FYI:  In the case to which I refer, an owner spent upwards of $300,000 pursuing a claim that he had been defamed. The case was allowed to proceed because there were enough elements in place that defamation was possible. However, he lost the case and all costs were awarded to the EC. That’s the threat of which your fellow owners should be aware.

    What you are confronting sounds like corporate bullying of the worst kind and the best way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them.

    The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.