The Human Rights Review Tribunal has upheld a complaint against Cameron Slater and order that he pay $70,000 damages to Matthew Blomfield, one of the highest awards ever made.
Human Rights Review Tribunal orders Cameron Slater to pay damages
The Human Rights Review Tribunal has today upheld a complaint against Cameron Slater. The Tribunal found that Slater had breached the privacy of Matthew Blomfield by obtaining and publishing Mr Blomfield’s personal information.
The Tribunal ordered Slater to pay $70,000 in damages for the “humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to feelings experienced by Mr Blomfield”. That is one of the highest awards ever made by the HRRT. It also ordered Slater to destroy Mr Blomfield’s personal information and to cease publishing stories based on that information.
In reaching its decision, the Tribunal rejected an argument from Slater that he was protected by a privacy exemption for news media. The Tribunal accepted that the blog site Whale Oil could be a news medium. However, it found that all but one of the publications complained of could not properly be described as a news activity. Rather, they were “gratuitous allegations” as part of a “sustained campaign” against Mr Blomfield. The Tribunal described the blog as “a calculated attack on Mr Blomfield and an extended assassination of his character”.
While being elated at the result, Mr Blomfield was very disappointed that the decision had taken so long. “I feel like I have lived the maxim, “justice delayed is justice denied”” he said. The hearing of this complaint before the Tribunal occurred more than four years ago. A few weeks ago, Slater had himself declared bankrupt. Since the hearing, the private information has appeared on other blog sites including one run by the lay advocate who assisted Slater before the HRRT. “The Tribunal has sat on this case for so long that it will now be very difficult for me to enforce any of its orders” said Mr Blomfield.
“Mr Slater’s actions have been an extended nightmare for me and my family. He has boasted online about having my family’s private information including the photos of my kids growing up and our family home movies. This has been especially traumatic for my children and my partner.” said Mr Blomfield. “Every allegation he made about me was a fabrication. As has become clear in the defamation case, there was simply no basis for the allegations, he just made them up.”
Good all such acts deserve this treatment, publish hit jobs and unproven allegations, get slapped down.
I concur
Seems a fair outcome, considering the stress Matthew Blomfield and his family were put through, courtesy of Slater!
Having declared bankruptcy, we wait and see what Cameron Slater’s response will be to this decision.
The only question I have, is who was he doing this for? That is the one thing that seems to have been buried over the period this has been ongoing…
It also occurs to me that the reason it took so long was to protect the real drivers of this behavior until they could be “disappeared” from any culpability… The senior judiciary in NZ is closely linked with the corporate raiders(national), so the probability is that this was deliberately dragged out to give them time to get under cover..
Now that their attack dog has been muzzled, at long last(note that while the criminal John Key was pm, Slater operated with impunity) The beneficiaries of Slaters deplorable behavior will happily let him twist in the wind…
Yes, Slater’s backers who use him as a vehicle for their attack dog politics should be footing the bill.
But of course they will run like the hounds and let him suffer.
Slater was a tool of the Dirty Politics brigade, they, unfortunately, are still around.
Yes, they are still around.
There on a certain right wing blog for all to see.
Character assignations are absolutely rife every day.
Usually attacking our PM and the COL in general.
The same names day after day
It is like they are totally obsessed.
Casting aspersions on senior judiciary is an easy beat up, baseless, and somewhat offensive.
I have been following this HRRT topic for some time, it has been openly in the news, and it’s a basic Google search.
Mr Haines, the senior judiciary for the HRRT being troubled by delays in justice, has written REPEATEDLY to justice ministers urging them to make urgent law change and appoint extra judicary to help with a Tibunal overwhelmed by a huge influx of cases.
One article says he even personally appeared before the Select Committee to ram home his concerns about the HRRT backlog and unacceptable delays in justice that can only be remedied by urgent law change. His pleas to parliament started years ago!
Hardly the actions of senior judiciary trying to drag things out for the sake of powerful cronies.
Read these articles for example, before casting shade on honourable people doing their utmost to help people get justice.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/101570737/access-to-justice-is-being-denied-to-almost-all-human-rights-review-tribunal-chairman-rodger-haines
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018640081/human-rights-review-tribunal-overwhelmed
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/52SCJU_EVI_74733_14552/8b57fc95f16df6e347a2908420066bc0c2b56e67
Don’t know which was worse, Slater’s character assassination or the HRRT taking four years ro arrive at a decision. The length of time is ridiculous. We might as well not have the Tribunal, with such an unacceptable delay.
*That* is where the real scandal lies.
Well I’ll be fucked. (Whale Oil beef hooked)
Now he has been .-Financially, reputationally and physically.
I’m happy about the first two. Sorry about the Physical though.
Even arseholes don’t deserve that.
“A few weeks ago, Slater had himself declared bankrupt.”
This is what jumped out at me.
There is no bottom as to how far he’s prepared to sink.