Francene Connor tells SA court that her Facebook posts could not and did not defame ex-TDU boss Mike Turtur, asks his lawsuit be dismissed
Ex-Tour Down Under boss Mike Turtur was not and could not have been defamed by Facebook posts that were seen by fewer than 50 people, the woman he’s suing has told a court.
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A marketing identity says her Facebook posts about the Tour Down Under were incapable of defaming its former boss – and were only seen by a handful of people until he filed a lawsuit.
In her court papers, Francene Connor also doubles down on her claim that a public servant, the late David McFarlane, played a key role in creating the multi million-dollar event.
She asks the District Court to dismiss Mr Turtur’s defamation claim, saying her posts were protected by “qualified privilege” and drew reactions from just 47 people.
However, in a written response filed with the court, Mr Turtur says his lawsuit must go ahead because Mr McFarlane’s place in TDU history is “merely perfunctory”.
Mr Turtur has asked the court to order Ms Connor pay aggravated damages for defaming his character online with “improper motives” and “ulterior purposes”.
He said that, on Facebook, she falsely accused him of stealing credit for the TDU from Mr McFarlane, who worked at SA Major Events, and staying silent to “maintain the lie”.
In addition, he asserted Ms Connor falsely accused him of being “arrogant, dismissive, demeaning and unacceptably rude” toward local mayors and race volunteers.
Two months later, Ms Connor posted an “unreserved apology” online, saying Mr Turtur should be “applauded” for his contributions to both cycling and the state’s economy.
Last week, the court heard Mr Turtur was “somewhat confused” and “at a loss for words” following that apology.
In her defence papers, Ms Connor says her posts were “not capable of conveying, nor in fact conveyed”, the negative imputations Mr Turtur claims.
She says they were “not reasonably capable of being, nor were in fact defamatory” of him, and that Mr Turtur had left his role as TDU race director prior to her posts.
Ms Connor says her posts were about the then-imminent revelation Lance Armstrong received $1.5 million to ride in the 2009 Tour, and about Mr McFarlane – not Mr Turtur.
“In 1998, the submission written and prepared by Mr McFarlane in relation to the proposal for the TDU was lodged with SA Cabinet,” Ms Connor says.
“In June 1998, he was seconded to the position of event director of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under.
“I obtained this information from conversations with Mr McFarlane, my colleagues at the SA Tourism Commission and other acquaintances involved with the TDU.
“I believed them to be true at the time of publication.”
Ms Connor also says Mr Turtur “became aware” of her posts “within 11 weeks” of them being made but did not seek their removal “until 52 weeks after publication”.
That delay, she says, indicates he “was not concerned about them” nor “regarded them as a serious matter”.
In his response, Mr Turtur asserts he “provided and directed information” to Mr McFarlane to prepare that submission.
“David McFarlane did not have anything approaching a sufficiently comprehensive knowledge or understanding of professional tour cycle racing to have been able to prepare, let alone ‘write’, the submission on his own,” he says.
“Mr McFarlane’s involvement was merely the perfunctory task of compiling the documentation under the direction and supervision of Mike Turtur, who conceived of the concept and details of the TDU.”
The case is set for a settlement conference next month.