No ‘like’ for change plea

Judge rules sued parents can’t add to defence

TWO parents accused of calling a Gold Coast principal “evil” and a “manipulative, horrible person” have been dealt a major blow to defending their case.

A judge has told Donna (far right) and Miguel Baluskas that they cannot change their defence filed with the Southport District Court because they have had enough time to plead their case and that the allegations they made were consistent with a teacher performing their duties.

The couple is being sued by Tambori n e Mountain High School principal Tracey Brose (right), who claims she was defamed in a series of Facebook posts in March 2016.

The court was told some of the posts allegedly read: “About time something was done with this evil woman”; “She has brought so much pain and stress to so many families on the mountain”; and “Worst experience of our lives crossing paths with this manipulative horrible person”.

Ms Brose said the posts had a number of Facebook likes and were widely read.

The Baluskases tried to add to their defence and argue that Facebook likes did not mean the post had been read.

The argument was on Friday denied by Judge David Kent, who ruled the couple had been given adequate time to accurately plead their case.

“A

‘like’ in this context does equate with a pleading that the viewer read the relevant words or at least viewed them; that is the meaning conveyed,” he wrote in his judgment. “In my view there is nothing objectionable about the pleading.”

The court case has been ongoing since June 2016.

Ms Brose was suspended from her position as principal in February of that year.

Judge Kent last week ruled the Baluskases could not use a series of allegations of Ms Brose’s treatment of students to support their case.

They include: That Ms Brose interviewed a 14-yearold student about cannabis use without a parent present; that Ms Brose excluded a student from school after an argument; that a teacher argued with Ms Brose about time off for touch football; and that Ms Brose did random student bag searches for mobile phones and ordered that they jump and shake about to dislodge any mobile phones.

“The narrative is quite consistent with a teacher properly performing her duties and could not be relied upon to justify an imputation that she is evil,” Judge Kent said.

The Baluskases, who have previously said the case could force them to lose their house, have time to make minor changes to their documents.

The case is set for a trial in front of a judge later this year.