The Courier Mail has reported that the suspension of a government school principal in Queensland has triggered a chain of events, culminating in the principal suing eight individuals for defamation.
Following the principal's suspension, the school’s Parents’ Association started a petition on Change.org to have the principal reinstated. The principal has now been reinstated and is suing eight individuals for $1.2 million, claiming that they left defamatory comments on the petition page and a related Facebook page.
Background
Tracey Brose, principal of Tamborine Mountain High School (the School), has filed a defamation claim in Southport District Court naming eight individuals who allegedly posted comments carrying varying false imputations about Ms Brose in her role as principal at the School.
The comments allegedly included complaints implying that Ms Brose:
- was evil, nasty and horrible;
- had brought pain and stress on a woman’s family;
- had mistreated lower-performing children; and
- brought stress on students who did not achieve A grades.
The suspension
The alleged defamatory comments were made in response to an outpouring from the school community following the decision of the Queensland Education Department to suspend Ms Brose with pay, without an explanation or reason given to the school community. The community maintained that there had been repeated attempts by the President of the Parents and Citizens’ Association for a number of weeks to ascertain clarification from the Department about whether Ms Brose would be returning from the suspension.
The petition
The Change.org petition titled “A Fast and Fair Resolution for Tracey Brose” was sent to the Queensland Minister for Education, Kate Jones and gained over 600 supporters. It was created by the President of the Parents and Citizens’ Association.
The petition called for the Department to expedite the resolution of the outstanding issues that related to Ms Brose’s suspension and complete the investigation. The majority of the messages on the Change.org page and the related Facebook page titled “Support Tracey Brose” were filled with comments from the school community heralding the suspended Principal’s efforts to date at the School.
The claim
Despite the positive messages published in support of Ms Brose, negative comments were also published. The defamation claim is based on the negative and potentially defamatory, comments about Ms Brose made by eight individuals.
In response to those comments, Ms Brose has sought legal counsel and has filed a claim in the Southport District Court suing each individual for $150,000 – the claim totalling $1.2 million. It has been reported by The Educator that none of the defendants named in the claim have responded, apologised or offered to make amends.
Ms Brose returned to work last Monday and is reported to have had an overwhelming amount of support for her return. Details concerning the suspension have not been released and the reason for the suspension and the investigation is still unclear.
Defamation law
For a successful defamation claim in this matter, Ms Brose will need to show that:
- the comments were communicated by the defendants to a third party;
- the comments adequately identified the plaintiff (Ms Brose);
- the comments contained defamatory imputations; and
- the defendants are not able to rely on any defence (for example that the comments are substantially true).
It can be difficult to succeed in a claim of defamation, particularly a claim arising from opinions voiced on comment boards. While the defendants in the matter are yet to respond to the claim or apologise, it may be the case that all parties enter into a form of alternative dispute resolution to resolve the real issues and seek alternative resolutions other than suing for monetary compensation.
Defamation claims in the school environment are not new and we have written several articles about other similar cases. For more information about defamation see:
The key message to take from all these cases, including the matter involving Ms Brose, is that people should be careful about commenting publicly about other people, especially on social media.
