conduct." The Tribunal went on to say that:
In each case, the underlying motivation - that Mr Sunol was angry about being
made the respondent in legal proceedings instituted by Mr Burns - was immediately
apparent to readers, many of whom would therefore be unlikely to pay much
attention to the imputation. Accordingly, there was in our judgment no sufficient
'detriment' to support a claim of victimisation.
83 The finding that many readers would be unlikely to pay much attention to the
imputation is relevant when assessing whether Mr Burns suffered any damage
to his reputation. He makes no such claim in this case.
84 In Sivananthan v Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Service
[2001] NSWADT 44 at [40], the Tribunal held that the word "detriment" should
be given its ordinary English meaning of "loss, damage or injury". The
statement in Bogie that the complainant must be placed under a disadvantage
as to a matter of substance as distinct from a trivial matter, is no more than
an attempt to define detriment. If the disadvantage is trivial it will not
constitute a detriment. Section 50 speaks of "any detriment in any
circumstances". Regardless of the circumstances, any detriment is sufficient.
Depending on the circumstances, that detriment may include the humiliation
and stress which the comments engender and/or, as was suggested by the
Tribunal in its 2012 decision, the damage to a person's reputation.
85 Whether a detriment has been suffered is to be determined objectively. In
Sivananthan at [41], the Tribunal stated that "it is not sufficient for the
complainant to allege that he has suffered some consequence at the hands of
the respondent which he characterises as a detriment; the loss, damage or
injury suffered by the complainant must be something which a reasonable
person would consider to be a detriment." In summary, in our view a
detriment is any objective disadvantage in any circumstance, but a person will
not have suffered a detriment if a reasonable person would not regard the
matter as a detriment because it is trivial.
86 In determining whether the detriment occurred "on the ground of" one of the
matters set out in sub-paras (a) to (d), the question is whether "one of the
things listed in s 50(1)(a) to (d) was at least one of the 'real', 'genuine' or
'true' reasons for being subjected to a detriment": Nicholls and Nicholls v
Director General, Department of Education and Training (No 2) [2009]
NSWADTAP 20.
COMPLAINTS OF VICTIMISATION
87 Mr Burns complained that the fourth (paras 2, 4 and 5), fifth, sixth and seventh
publications constitute victimisation. In relation to all the victimisation
complaints, it is not disputed that Mr Burns did one of the things referred to in
paras (a) to (d) of s 50. He brought proceedings against Mr Sunol under the AD
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