A HIGH Court jury has awarded £515,000 to a firm of brokers which claimed it, was defamed by the Irish Brokers' Association. It is the highest amount ever awarded for defamation by the court.
The action was taken by Mr Albert Dawson (62), Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin, and his brother, Mr Dudley Dawson (58), Maywood Drive, Raheny, Dublin, trading as A E Dawson and Sons, Maywood Drive, Raheny. At the end of the hearing, which lasted 12 days, Mr Justice Barron ruled that the case was clearly one of defamation.
The IBA, he said, could not claim qualified privilege regarding a circular it had published which stated that the Dawsons' membership of the association had been terminated.
Legal sources expressed surprise at the level of the award last night. A stay of one month was put on the judgment for an appeal.
The highest amount ever awarded previously in a defamation action was to a father and son who had, been wrongly detained by security guards at a Quinnsworth store in 1992. They sued for false arrest, defamation and assault. The father was awarded about £265,000 and the son got £120,000. Following an appeal to the Supreme Court the amounts were reduced to about.
£85,000 and £75,000 respectively.
In the IBA case yesterday, Mr Justice Barron said the association did have qualified privilege but in this case had exceeded, if not abused it, and destroyed any question of qualified privilege.
The IBA failed to identify the alleged grounds for its action or give ample opportunity to the persons against whom the claims were made to state their case before making a decision on the matter, he said.
The court heard the IBA had notified by letter insurance companies with which the plaintiffs held agencies and the Insurance Intermediary Compliance Bureau of the alleged termination of membership.
In its defence, the IBA had submitted that, if the contents of the circular were untrue or unjustified, the occasion of publication was one of qualified privilege.
After the hearing, Mr Albert Dawson said. "It seems a very just decision. It seems to bear a relationship to the damage done. It's round about what we thought."
