Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News Network have reached a settlement on the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion against Fox News regarding statements made on the channel that Dominion rigged the 2020 US Presidential election. The settlement was reached on the eve of the trial, and Fox News was reported to have paid Dominion $787.5 million to settle the defamation case.
Defamation law in Wisconsin requires that defamatory comments must be a statement of fact that is communicated to a person other than the one defamed and tends to harm one’s reputation. The potentially defamatory statement must be false, or a damaging statement of fact that has to be false to be considered defamatory.
The defamatory comment must be made to a third party, and the party claiming defamation must prove damages to prevail in a defamation lawsuit at trial. In Dominion’s case, the damages were both simpler and more complicated. While a business can produce its balance sheet, the damages suffered may be disputed, and both sides may retain experts to provide opinions at trial.
Fox News argued that the statements made were opinions rather than facts. However, the court held that each of the allegations is a matter of fact because they could be objectively shown to be true or false. This crossing of a major evidentiary hurdle left Dominion not needing to convince the jury that each statement was false.
The potential damages in a major defamation claim can run into nine figures and beyond if the right circumstances arise. In Dominion’s case, Fox News bit the bullet and settled for $787.5 million rather than taking their chances.
Dominion identified four general factual statements made by Fox News, which include committing election fraud, manipulating vote counts through software and algorithms, being founded in Venezuela to rig elections for dictator Hugo Chavez, and paying kickbacks to government officials.
In summary, to prevail on a defamation claim in Wisconsin, the defamatory statement must be a false statement of fact, made to a third party, and the party claiming defamation must be able to prove damages.
Specialist advice should be sought about specific circumstances.
Original Story at www.mondaq.com – 2023-05-22 07:57:42
