NSW False Accusation on Facebook - Defamation Case?

[Lillyohbee]

My neighbour and I had a fallout with another neighbour in April 2016. Since then, we have not communicated (except once, which is not relevant). She blocked us on Facebook.

On October 14, she posted on her Facebook "You know you have sick and twisted (sic) neighbours such as *me and *B that leave used condoms in your letterbox... Charming ...."

We live in a street of 17 houses and 14 of our neighbours either read it or know about it. We did not commit such a vile act. I am totally disgusted and can only imagine what the neighbours think. Obviously, they would have thought bad of us, although I have spoken to some of them.

I have screenshots of it all. She went on to say we threatened her family (which we didn't) and she has no doubt it was us that left the used condom. A lot of the people know us in the community (one where we all have friends in common). She took the post down after I wrote to her sister-in-law asking for her not to believe the abhorrent accusation and said I was considering my legal options.

The SIL has now blocked me. I want to take action. Can someone confirm if this is defamatory and if we have a defamation case? Our mutual friends includes my 14-year-old friends, her school teachers, and our families and friends.

 

[Rod]

You likely have a case for defamation. They may have a defence, but it seems unlikely.

Recommend you talk to a solicitor about what to do next.

 

[Lillyohbee]

Thanks so much - what kind of defence could she have though? She couldn't have any "proof" because we didn't do it. She has known me for many years and has no basis to even consider that I would do such a thing.

Our other neighbour has a camera and I was soooo excited that we could prove our innocence but the camera hasn't been working

Oh and by the way, her Facebook post said "twistered". My auto correct fixed it

 

[Lillyohbee]

When

Thanks so much - what kind of defence could she have though? she couldn't have any "proof" because we didn't do it - she has known me for many years and has no basis to even consider that I would do such a thing - our other neighbour has a camera and I was soooo excited that we could prove our innocence but the camera hasn't been working oh and by the way her Facebook post said "twistered" my auto correct fixed it

I say "what kind of proof" I'm asking is there something "general" that can be a defence?

 

[Rod]

There are a number of defences to defamation. The two that may exist here are honest opinion and triviality.

Without seeing the actual posts and without having some background detail it is hard to say how good your case is hence the recommendation to see a lawyer who can go through the material in detail.

I suspect a win for you will not be worth a lot of money, however it would vindicate you and help restore your reputation in the neighbourhood. I'd also be asking for an apology, but wouldn't accept the commonly used 'if apology'. See the explanation below by the author John Kador. It neatly sums up this kind of 'conditional apology'.

From Wikipedia: This kind of apology shifts the blame onto the offended party, and denies personal acceptance of wrongdoing, as in "I'm sorry if you were offended by what I said". The "if" implies that the apologiser either doesn't even know they did wrong (and did not bother to find out) or else does not acknowledge that they did wrong and so are pretending to apologise because they feel obligated to rather than because they are actually sorry. There is no confirmation that the apologiser actually regrets anything or has learnt anything from what they did that was wrong. According to John Kador in Effective Apology, "Adding the word if or any other conditional modifier to an apology makes it a non-apology."​

I accepted a conditional apology many many years ago because, while I knew a conditional apology was not a real apology, I couldn't actually verbalise what was wrong with it at the time. I've since learnt my lesson on acceptance of apologies. ie: Non-apologies deserve non-acceptance.

 

[Lillyohbee]

Thanks Rod - not really after money just want to clear my name (although a holiday or even a hamburger "on her" would be nice lol) - an apology and retraction. The other neighbour named is entering politics so this slur is not a nice way to start and obviously is not happy with the insinuation that certainly has no basis.

Me personally, I don't particularly care if people like me or not but I certainly don't want my friends, family and others to think I was so disgusting and looked down upon. Dislike me for who I am, not because of someone else's fantasy.

I am, however, lucky that she isn't well liked in our street - so hopefully they don't believe her anyway.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it We will contact a lawyer.

Thanks.