Trolls Beware
The Australian justice system has at last stomped decisively into the 21st century, striking out at online bullying and harassment. Following the first Commonwealth criminal prosecution of its kind last week, a young man entered a plea of guilty to a charge laid against him by AFP investigators in relation to a series of offensive comments he had posted online regarding a photo of a woman’s Tinder profile that one of his friends had posted on Facebook. It has been reported the man posted some 50 disparaging attacks on the photo, including rape threats and other derogatory and threatening comments. Following his plea of guilty, he was remanded to be sentenced later this year, and could face up to 3 years imprisonment.
The Winds Of Change
What goes around comes around, I guess.
My wife and I spent this week visiting our youngest daughter at her home in Brooklyn, New York City, where we rubbed shoulders with the beautiful people on the borough’s trendy Bedford Avenue. How times have changed.
Ali RIP
Over the weekend, a great hero passed away. Muhammad Ali was not just a giant of the sport of boxing, he was one of the most influential characters 20th century, one whose dynamic personality was an integral part of the winds of change that swept through the post-war period.
American Pie
Something crazy is happening in America right now. Crazy, and eerily familiar.
As the left and right of US politics fight their perennial good fight, waging familiar and well-worn party-political warfare on the hustings, the man in middle, the average American, lays awake nights worrying it’s all going down the toilet in a hurry, praying for a messiah who will lead him from the wilderness, but fearing he will never come, because no one is listening and no one really cares. Then, just when it’s least expected, along comes a maverick with a crazy hair-do and a ton of front, who steps up onto a soap box and smashes all the taboos keeping Average John awake at night, saying the things he would have said himself except everyone kept telling him that kind of stuff was way off limits and not to be spoken of in public.
Fair Enough
“That’s not fair.”
My client’s assessment was spot-on, and more than a little ironic, given he was referring to the Fair Work Act. Like justice, fairness can be an elusive concept.
I had just finished explaining to my client a few home truths about Fair Work claims. The former employee he had dismissed for incompetence and repeated failure to show up to work was seeking damages for wrongful dismissal. In my view there was absolutely no merit in the claim, and I was confident we would win in court. But the exercise would still be an expensive one for my client. Even if you win a Fair Work claim, the Act precludes reimbursement of a litigant’s costs unless they can show the other party acted vexatiously or unreasonably. Which means claimants often have everything to gain and nothing to lose, even if their claim fails.