Defamation case: Windies star Chris Gayle awarded $300K

What's the story?

Veteran Caribbean opener Chris Gayle has been awarded $300,000 as compensation for being defamed in several reports by Fairfax Media regarding an alleged incident of indecent exposure during the 2015 World Cup.

In a significant legal judgement on Monday, New South Wales (NSW) Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum has instructed Fairfax Media to pay the hefty sum of money in damages to Gayle. The Australian media company has decided to appeal against the decision.

The background

During early 2016, a slew of articles appeared in prominent Australian media outlets such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times alleging that Gayle had exposed himself to a massage therapist on the sidelines of a World Cup match in Sydney.

Gayle instantly filed a defamation suit against Fairfax Media. After legal proceedings had been initiated in 2016, a four-member jury ruled in favour of the West Indies batsman in October 2017. The NSW Supreme Court ascertained that the publisher had failed to prove the veracity of the reports which alleged that he had exposed himself indecently to Leanne Russell.

The heart of the matter

Arguing that the allegations have transcended into Gayle's professional career on the field, Justice Lucy McCallum dismissed the defence's proposition of qualified privilege that the publisher had acted in public interest while covering the incident.

Disregarding the defendants' malice while establishing the damages, Justice McCallum termed Gayle's feelings of hurt as 'surprisingly compelling' and insisted that the opener's distress primarily arose from then calls urging him to be banned from the game.

"In light of the jury's verdict, I am required to assess damages on the basis that the allegation of indecent exposure was not true and that the attribution of such conduct was very damaging to Mr Gayle's reputation", Justice McCallum was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

What's next?

Labelling the judgment as 'prejudiced', Fairfax Media has opted to immediately appeal against the damages listed. It remains to be seen if the case embarks in a different direction in the coming future.

Meanwhile, Gayle's spokesperson Grant Vandenberg expressed the left-hander's desire to return to the Big Bash and play cricket on Australian soil. It will be interesting to see how the tournament's organisers react to the NSW Supreme Court judgment.