AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
( The following is not written by me and is a sensitive topic. This is an update to the following AspiesCentral article I posted on January 13th - See here )
A Ballarat man with Asperger's syndrome has been awarded $50,000 in compensation by the Victorian Supreme Court, Australia, for being defamed at the hands of a blogger in the United States.
Philip Gluyas, 49, of Sebastopol, alleged Los Angeles resident Oliver Canby defamed him in a series of posts published on his Autism Is Bad blog between 2011 and 2012.
Mr Gluyas is also a blogger, and the court heard that after the pair clashed online Mr Canby accused Mr Gluyas, a country junior football umpire, of being a sexual deviant and a paedophile who preyed on young players.
Blog postings tendered to the court showed Mr Canby did not believe Mr Gluyas had Asperger's syndrome and accused Mr Gluyas of being a "severely deranged mental case" and "sociopath".
It was not the first time the 49-year-old had taken action against bloggers in the US. He previously sued US residents for defamation in separate cases in the supreme and county courts.
Mr Canby's blog is housed on a US server and in one post he awarded Mr Gluyas a mock award.
"It is my honor (sic) to dole this...to Phil Gluyas, as he will never learn to stop being an idiot. God bless America," the post read.
The court heard Mr Gluyas was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in 1997 and received a disability support pension.
In another post in March 2012 titled 'A Call for Violence Against Phil Gluyas', Mr Canby called for a random member of the public to go to Mr Gluyas' home and kill him.
"Will anyone who lives in Australia please show up at (Mr Gluyas' address) and murder Phil Gluyas?" the post read.
"I don't want him to die, I want him to suffer it has to be done right."
The post gave a detailed description of how Mr Canby wanted Mr Gluyas killed and offered a $500 reward to "the perpetrator".
"This will be the first act of the 99% striking back against the 1%," the post read.
"I will need proof that the deed has been done before I can send the reward money, so if anyone is interested please contact me via email."
Mr Canby did not attend the trial earlier this month and did not have legal representation, meaning the case against him was undefended.
Judge describes blog posts as 'vile accusations'
Mr Gluyas told the court the blog posts wrongly implied that he was a fraud and that he claimed to have Asperger's syndrome for financial gain.
He also said they implied he "brutalised" his former boss, that he was banned from umpiring and he was a paedophile, homosexual and a liar.
He said the blog post 'A Call for Violence Against Phil Gluyas' caused him great mental harm and fear.
Justice Jack Forrest described the men at trial as "keyboard warriors" and said it was obvious they had had an ongoing feud.
He described Mr Canby's posts as "utterly disgraceful" and containing "vile accusations".
"The evidence justifies a conclusion that only a very small number of persons have viewed the publication," Justice Forrest said.
"However I am conscious of the prospect that there may be a grapevine effect, particularly given that some of the defamatory material may still be accessed by a web search.
"I consider that the defamatory imputations are serious and that Mr Gluyas is entitled to an award of damages that vindicates his reputation and standing."
Justice Forrest said it was an aggravating feature of the case that several of the posts remained on the site.
He awarded Mr Gluyas $50,000 in damages plus $6,900 in interest.
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SOURCE ARTICLE: Philip Gluyas, Ballarat man with Asperger's, awarded $50k after being defamed by US blogger - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
FURTHER INFORMATION: www.theage.com.au/victoria/judge-awards-philip-gluyas-50000-in-defamation-lawsuit-against-us-antiautism-blogger-oliver-canby-20150127-12ywpn.html
A Ballarat man with Asperger's syndrome has been awarded $50,000 in compensation by the Victorian Supreme Court, Australia, for being defamed at the hands of a blogger in the United States.
Philip Gluyas, 49, of Sebastopol, alleged Los Angeles resident Oliver Canby defamed him in a series of posts published on his Autism Is Bad blog between 2011 and 2012.
Mr Gluyas is also a blogger, and the court heard that after the pair clashed online Mr Canby accused Mr Gluyas, a country junior football umpire, of being a sexual deviant and a paedophile who preyed on young players.
Blog postings tendered to the court showed Mr Canby did not believe Mr Gluyas had Asperger's syndrome and accused Mr Gluyas of being a "severely deranged mental case" and "sociopath".
It was not the first time the 49-year-old had taken action against bloggers in the US. He previously sued US residents for defamation in separate cases in the supreme and county courts.
Mr Canby's blog is housed on a US server and in one post he awarded Mr Gluyas a mock award.
"It is my honor (sic) to dole this...to Phil Gluyas, as he will never learn to stop being an idiot. God bless America," the post read.
The court heard Mr Gluyas was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in 1997 and received a disability support pension.
In another post in March 2012 titled 'A Call for Violence Against Phil Gluyas', Mr Canby called for a random member of the public to go to Mr Gluyas' home and kill him.
"Will anyone who lives in Australia please show up at (Mr Gluyas' address) and murder Phil Gluyas?" the post read.
"I don't want him to die, I want him to suffer it has to be done right."
The post gave a detailed description of how Mr Canby wanted Mr Gluyas killed and offered a $500 reward to "the perpetrator".
"This will be the first act of the 99% striking back against the 1%," the post read.
"I will need proof that the deed has been done before I can send the reward money, so if anyone is interested please contact me via email."
Mr Canby did not attend the trial earlier this month and did not have legal representation, meaning the case against him was undefended.
Judge describes blog posts as 'vile accusations'
Mr Gluyas told the court the blog posts wrongly implied that he was a fraud and that he claimed to have Asperger's syndrome for financial gain.
He also said they implied he "brutalised" his former boss, that he was banned from umpiring and he was a paedophile, homosexual and a liar.
He said the blog post 'A Call for Violence Against Phil Gluyas' caused him great mental harm and fear.
Justice Jack Forrest described the men at trial as "keyboard warriors" and said it was obvious they had had an ongoing feud.
He described Mr Canby's posts as "utterly disgraceful" and containing "vile accusations".
"The evidence justifies a conclusion that only a very small number of persons have viewed the publication," Justice Forrest said.
"However I am conscious of the prospect that there may be a grapevine effect, particularly given that some of the defamatory material may still be accessed by a web search.
"I consider that the defamatory imputations are serious and that Mr Gluyas is entitled to an award of damages that vindicates his reputation and standing."
Justice Forrest said it was an aggravating feature of the case that several of the posts remained on the site.
He awarded Mr Gluyas $50,000 in damages plus $6,900 in interest.
---
SOURCE ARTICLE: Philip Gluyas, Ballarat man with Asperger's, awarded $50k after being defamed by US blogger - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
FURTHER INFORMATION: www.theage.com.au/victoria/judge-awards-philip-gluyas-50000-in-defamation-lawsuit-against-us-antiautism-blogger-oliver-canby-20150127-12ywpn.html
