The Court of Appeal has upheld a €300,000 defamation award made to the head of security of the horse racing regulatory body against the horse racing trainers' organisation.
In 2020 a High Court jury made the award, following a 30-day trial, to Chris Gordon, security head of the Turf Club, now known as the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board (IHRB).
The jury found he had been the subject of an "orchestrated and severe campaign" against his good name by the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA).
In a lengthy judgment, given by Mr Justice Brian Murray, the three judge CoA dismissed all the grounds of the IRTA's appeal against the jury's damages award, which included aggravated and exemplary damages, and its consequential findings were "without foundation."
Yard inspection
In his action Mr Gordon claimed he was defamed in a letter about his role in an inspection of the yard of horse trainer Liz Doyle, a daughter of former FG MEP and TD Avril Doyle, who was also present during the inspection.
Mr Gordon (62) sued the IRTA over a letter from its solicitor to a senior Turf Club steward which he said falsely alleged he (Gordon) attempted to entrap Ms Doyle junior into an admission of wrongdoing.
The IRTA denied defamation and following the jury decision, it lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal (CoA).
The CoA comprised of Mr Justice Murray, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan and Ms Justice Una Ni Raifeartaigh dismissed all grounds of the IRTA's appeal.
Giving the court's decision Mr Justice Murray said the appeal had raised questions not only relevant to the quantum of the award made in favour Mr Gordon, but also on other legal issues.
These included questions about the correct legal test to be applied in determining whether a defendant has acted with malice on an occasion of qualified privilege, or how a jury should be instructed in connection with such an allegation.
Further questions included when a corporate body may be fixed with liability over statements made by one of its officers, when such a body will be liable for words spoken at a meeting arranged by it, and how a party can become liable for publications to, and letters issued by solicitor on its behalf.
Some of these issues do not commonly arise, the judge said, adding that the context in which they presented themselves in this case was "far from usual".
Hard-fought trial
The judge said that the trial, presided over by Mr Justice Bernard Barton, was clearly, for all involved, a bruising and hard-fought affair.
The jury had concluded that an entirely innocent error on the part of the plaintiff was misinterpreted, and then used by an organisation of racehorse trainers to inhibit the plaintiff in the discharge by him of important duties in the course of his employment, Mr Justice Murray said.
The allegation against Mr Gordon, that he had knowingly used a concocted document in an attempt to entrap a racehorse trainer into an admission of serious wrongdoing –was transmitted by the defendant to its solicitors and by its solicitors to the plaintiff’s employer, was very serious, the judge said.
Mr Justice Murray said that all of the claims were found by the High Court jury to have been related and to have been advanced when the defendant had no honest belief in the allegations against the plaintiff and formed part of a campaign against Mr Gordon.
Mr Justice Murray added that the trial judge delivered a charge to the jury on the issue of malice that was as clear as it was correct.
The evidence before the jury, was sufficient to enable the jury to conclude that there was indeed such malice, Mr Justice Murray said.
The jury was also entitled to find the defendant liable for statements made about the plaintiff at the relevant meeting of the IRTA, where various statements were made about Mr Gordon.
In all of the circumstances, the defendant has not established that the award of €200,000 in general damages made in favour of the plaintiff was either unreasonable or disproportionate, and the jury award of €50,000 for aggravated and of €50,000 for exemplary damages should not be interfered with, the CoA added.
