A Victorian local councillor has been ordered to pay Melbourne
property developer, Sam Zuchowski, (Managing Director of Cavendish
Properties) $205,000 in damages for defamatory comments on social
media.
The Victorian County Court heard that in 2019, Kingston
Councillor, Cameron Howe, created a Facebook page entitled
"Carrum and Patterson Lakes Forum". This
Facebook page published a number of defamatory comments about Mr.
Zuchowski. Although Mr. Zuchowski was not directly named in these
posts, Judge Peter Lauritsen of the Victorian County Court
determined that he was reasonably identifiable due to the nature of
his job and the small area in which he conducted his business.
The Court determined that the comments were defamatory in nature
because they implied that Mr. Zuchowski was acting in a corrupt
manner.
