Christina Alice Murdoch sues Livingstone Shire Council in $250K defamation claim

A CEO who was sacked from a Central Queensland council is suing her former employer in a $250,000 defamation claim but the council says she is not entitled to the money.

Former Livingstone Shire Council CEO Christina Murdoch.

Former Livingstone Shire Council CEO Christina Murdoch is suing the organisation in a defamation claim that seeks $250,000 in damages.

Ms Murdoch was sacked by the council in September, 2020, ending her four-and-a-half year stint as Livingstone’s chief executive officer.

In announcing Ms Murdoch’s termination at the time, the council released a statement which read: “In January, the council commissioned an independent investigation under the oversight of the Crime and Corruption Commission into allegations of misconduct against Ms Murdoch.

“Council today considered the findings of the investigation and voted on a resolution to terminate Ms Murdoch’s employment with immediate effect.”

Former Livingstone Shire Council CEO Christina Murdoch.

Ms Murdoch’s Statement of Claim pleads the press release falsely implied that she had been found by the independent investigation to have engaged in misconduct as CEO of the council and, that as CEO, she had engaged in misconduct that was so serious that it warranted immediate termination of her employment.

She is seeking $200,000 in “general compensatory damages” to “vindicate her reputation” and “compensate her for the distress and embarrassment caused” by the publication of the media statement as well as $50,000 in “aggravated compensatory damages” which “should reflect the fact that in consequence upon the publication, (she) has suffered such harm to her reputation that she is disadvantaged in her ability to secure future employment.”

Ms Murdoch is further seeking an injunction restraining Livingstone Shire Council, its servants or agents or otherwise, from continuing to publish, further publish, or cause to be published “words defamatory of (her).”

Ms Murdoch is also seeking interest on any damages awarded, plus costs.

Former Livingstone Shire Council CEO, Christina Murdoch. Photo: Chris Ison/The Morning Bulletin.

Livingstone Shire Council has filed an amended defence with the District Court of Queensland in which it pleads that Ms Murdoch’s imputations do not arise.

In the alternative, the council says publication of the media statement was reasonable, relying on qualified privilege defences arising under section 30 of the Defamation Act and the common law.

In reply, Ms Murdoch says that the council cannot rely on its qualified privilege defences as it was actuated by malice.

Ms Murdoch also pleads that publication of the statement was not reasonable for a number of reasons including that the statement “seriously misrepresented the truth by creating the impression that finding of serious misconduct involving the CCC had been made” when they had not; that the imputations were “demonstrably untrue”; and, Ms Murdoch was not offered the chance to put her side of the story in the statement.

Ms Murdoch was appointed CEO of Livingstone in April 2016, and before that she had been the council’s director Corporate Services since October 2014.

She had previously held executive leadership roles in the public health and higher education sectors for almost 20 years, as well as being a chief finance officer in the private sector.

Ms Murdoch, a chartered accountant with a degree in commerce and post graduate qualifications in psychology, became the first female CEO of Livingstone Shire Council.

Originally published as Christina Alice Murdoch sues Livingstone Shire Council in $250K defamation claim