The 'me too' movement
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David
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As has been established, we have defamation laws that tend to heavily favour plaintiffs. I wouldn’t usually go into bat for the Murdoch tabloids, but not sure justice was done here.
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange
“For the reasons already given, the impression I gained about Ms [Eryn Jean] Norvill was that she was a witness who was prone to exaggeration and embellishment. I do not accept that she was an entirely credible witness, or that the evidence she gave about Mr [Geoffrey] Rush’s conduct was reliable. I consider that the evidence Ms Norvill gave concerning Mr Rush’s behaviour during the rehearsals was exaggerated and unreliable. I also consider that her evidence about other members of the cast and crew being complicit in, or enabling, Mr Rush’s allegedly inappropriate conduct towards her and other female members of the cast or crew was unreliable and must be rejected.” Judge Michael Wigney, Federal Court of Australia, 11 April 2019
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'First, you need more than one witness, as we saw in the Rush case; and as we saw in the Chris Gayle case. In fact, as one defamation lawyer joked today, you need three witnesses and a person of impeccable gender. Except that wasn’t a joke.'
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“If it wasn't for journalists, Harvey Weinstein would still be producing films.
"[But] if the Weinstein story had come out in Australia he would be suing you and probably have a good chance of winning."
Michael Cameron
https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/gen ... 51de4.html
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'First, you need more than one witness, as we saw in the Rush case; and as we saw in the Chris Gayle case. In fact, as one defamation lawyer joked today, you need three witnesses and a person of impeccable gender. Except that wasn’t a joke.'
...
“If it wasn't for journalists, Harvey Weinstein would still be producing films.
"[But] if the Weinstein story had come out in Australia he would be suing you and probably have a good chance of winning."
Michael Cameron
https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/gen ... 51de4.html
'Professor David Rolph, a defamation law expert at the University of Sydney, said the decision was "a comprehensive victory for Mr Rush" and "in light of the reasons for judgment, the award of damages for economic loss is likely to be very substantial".
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But Justice Wigney said Mr Rush's earning capacity was likely to bounce back two years after his judgment. He said "the most likely scenario" was that he would receive no real offers of work for a year, before it gradually increased from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and back up to his previous earning capacity.
But he said there was "little doubt that the publications had a devastating effect on Mr Rush’s reputation as an actor...'
https://www.theage.com.au/national/rush ... 51dci.html
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But Justice Wigney said Mr Rush's earning capacity was likely to bounce back two years after his judgment. He said "the most likely scenario" was that he would receive no real offers of work for a year, before it gradually increased from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and back up to his previous earning capacity.
But he said there was "little doubt that the publications had a devastating effect on Mr Rush’s reputation as an actor...'
https://www.theage.com.au/national/rush ... 51dci.html
"But while I applaud his decision, much of his reasoning invites precisely the kind of social commentary that #MeToo has unleashed. Reading his lengthy judgment, I struggled to glimpse reality in its pages.
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I’m not second-guessing his findings. But I was struck in parts by the naivety of his assumptions.
Over and over the judge used the phrases, “it’s almost impossible to believe”, “untenable,” “implausible”.
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Rush has been rightly awarded $850,000 in damages, with more to come for economic loss. I find myself wondering if Norvill risks losing opportunities, if some in the industry might see her, unfairly, as too fragile or prudish to take a punt on. And if that eventuates who will give her redress?"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/i-st ... 51di3.html
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I’m not second-guessing his findings. But I was struck in parts by the naivety of his assumptions.
Over and over the judge used the phrases, “it’s almost impossible to believe”, “untenable,” “implausible”.
...
Rush has been rightly awarded $850,000 in damages, with more to come for economic loss. I find myself wondering if Norvill risks losing opportunities, if some in the industry might see her, unfairly, as too fragile or prudish to take a punt on. And if that eventuates who will give her redress?"
https://www.theage.com.au/national/i-st ... 51di3.html
National sexual harassment inquiry to examine lessons from Rush case
https://www.theage.com.au/national/nati ... 51djf.html
'"It's almost like there are two worlds there, divided by gender, and that's why we need #MeToo to communicate across that divide," Dr O'Connell said.
She said the legal requirement for consistency in the way a complainant responded to harassment "is at odds with the experience of living in that world in which women have to feel their way through, adapting as they go".
"We cannot go through life behaving like these ideal victims because we couldn't live our lives," she said.
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Dr O'Connell said that from a "legal point of view [Justice Wigney] was on very strong ground", as the actor was supported in court by witnesses who "all gave very strong evidence" in support of him.'
https://www.theage.com.au/national/nati ... 51djf.html
'"It's almost like there are two worlds there, divided by gender, and that's why we need #MeToo to communicate across that divide," Dr O'Connell said.
She said the legal requirement for consistency in the way a complainant responded to harassment "is at odds with the experience of living in that world in which women have to feel their way through, adapting as they go".
"We cannot go through life behaving like these ideal victims because we couldn't live our lives," she said.
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Dr O'Connell said that from a "legal point of view [Justice Wigney] was on very strong ground", as the actor was supported in court by witnesses who "all gave very strong evidence" in support of him.'
^^ A journo acted himself & got ejected:
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opin ... stem-65737
'Michael Balter ... has been ejected from the conference after he confronted archaeologist David Yesner at the meeting and repeatedly contacted a society communications officer to ask for a response. Yesner, who is now retired, had recently been banned from coming to his own university campus because of accusations of sexual misconduct.
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) tells Balter in an email that he violated its conduct policy regarding his “outreach” about Yesner, a former professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) who was found to have sexually assaulted and harassed multiple women. Balter explains that, while in the exhibition hall of the conference yesterday, he told Yesner to leave and escorted him to the exit.
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“Journalists shouldn’t necessarily be kicking the subjects of their reporting out of meetings, but quite frankly nobody else was protecting these students,” Balter tells The Scientist. “I considered this an emergency.” '
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opin ... stem-65737
'Michael Balter ... has been ejected from the conference after he confronted archaeologist David Yesner at the meeting and repeatedly contacted a society communications officer to ask for a response. Yesner, who is now retired, had recently been banned from coming to his own university campus because of accusations of sexual misconduct.
The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) tells Balter in an email that he violated its conduct policy regarding his “outreach” about Yesner, a former professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) who was found to have sexually assaulted and harassed multiple women. Balter explains that, while in the exhibition hall of the conference yesterday, he told Yesner to leave and escorted him to the exit.
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“Journalists shouldn’t necessarily be kicking the subjects of their reporting out of meetings, but quite frankly nobody else was protecting these students,” Balter tells The Scientist. “I considered this an emergency.” '
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David
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"An emergency"? Isn't that a bit hysterical? If the man is free to go about his business in public without being considered an imminent threat to women's safety, I don't see why the moment he steps onto a university campus people need to sound the air-raid alarms. Not sure it was right for Balter to be kicked out, but it does sound like he overreacted somewhat in trying to play the hero.
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange
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stui magpie
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Extreme grandstanding. 
some of these older blokes haven't moved with the times is all. The uni took action, Balter was definitely trying to play hero, overstepped the mark and got binned for it. it wasn't his place to police attendees and this archaeologist David Yesner is hardly a serial rapist or someone who poses a threat.
Banning him from attending the uni is a good move, a guest speaker taking matters into his own hands to remove someone from a conference, isn't.
some of these older blokes haven't moved with the times is all. The uni took action, Balter was definitely trying to play hero, overstepped the mark and got binned for it. it wasn't his place to police attendees and this archaeologist David Yesner is hardly a serial rapist or someone who poses a threat.
Banning him from attending the uni is a good move, a guest speaker taking matters into his own hands to remove someone from a conference, isn't.
Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down.
Daily Telegraph launches appeal in Geoffrey Rush defamation case
https://www.theage.com.au/national/dail ... 51kig.html
"The publisher says the trial miscarried because the conduct of the proceedings by Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney "gave rise to an apprehension of bias".
It does not accuse Justice Wigney of actual bias, but says the way he conducted the hearings created an appearance that he was biased.
Nationwide News also says it was denied procedural fairness and the amount of damages awarded by Justice Wigney was "excessive".
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In its notice of appeal, Nationwide News says Justice Wigney's finding that Ms Norvill was an unreliable witness prone to exaggeration supports its case that his conduct of the proceedings gave rise to an apprehension of bias."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/dail ... 51kig.html
"The publisher says the trial miscarried because the conduct of the proceedings by Federal Court Justice Michael Wigney "gave rise to an apprehension of bias".
It does not accuse Justice Wigney of actual bias, but says the way he conducted the hearings created an appearance that he was biased.
Nationwide News also says it was denied procedural fairness and the amount of damages awarded by Justice Wigney was "excessive".
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In its notice of appeal, Nationwide News says Justice Wigney's finding that Ms Norvill was an unreliable witness prone to exaggeration supports its case that his conduct of the proceedings gave rise to an apprehension of bias."