High School Principal sues parents over defamatory social media comments | 60 Minutes Australia

tonight a lesson in what not to do if you're a parent with a beef against the principle of your kids school don't become a keyboard warrior and spray hurtful adjectives on social media but if you do be prepared to be sued on Friday a Queensland judge found some parents who had posted online about the principle of the tambourine Mountain High School south of Brisbane it's landed her and were ordered to pay damages but despite the ruling of the court as you'll see this case which is about to enter its fifth year is so full of bitterness and belligerence not even the class dance would think it's over late one night in March 2016 an online discussion is circulating among past and present parents of tambourine Mountain High School about the school's popular principal Tracey Bruce but in the wee hours some parents are using the chance to settle old scores I wrote that she's nothing but an evil nasty horrible person I remember the night that I wrote it it was 1:30 in the morning I'd had a couple of Bourbons there were some horrendous comments on there like really really bad ones so and I thought oh bugger it I'll ever go to the posts were aimed to hurt and they did if you're going to physically assault someone and the weapon is a knife that's very serious the problem is the weapon these days is social media and that's the weapon they have used to hurt me so began with a few keystrokes a battle between the principal she's out for revenge ants on anybody that speaks out against her the parents that would last for years don't push the little people around that's me he don't push little people around some would be destroyed financially we've lost everything for this woman's hurt feelings our lives have gone down the bloody toilet we've got nothing for others it would come down to physical assault I said open the door and talk to me I'll open the door for you where does it become okay this is my castle this is where my children feel safe to sleep every night and this person came and did this to my home it's a story of obsession absurdity and some very bad decisions we wouldn't accept that people can come into a school and punch a teacher to make a teacher do what they want so why do we accept the people can assault and bully and abuse online in March 2016 Tracy burrows the longtime principal of Queensland's Tambourine Mountain High School was briefly suspended on full pay the complaint kept confidential as his standard practice was unproven and she was reinstated two months later but in that time the school's PNC Committee launched an online petition campaigning against her suspension parents were invited to comment and there was an overwhelmingly positive response but they were also a number of parents who decided to use the petition as a forum of attack and that was their first mistake well our experience with Tracy bros it wasn't a pleasant one at all donna and miguel de Lucas were online that night they decided their time had come what did you write online Donna I wrote that she's nothing but an evil nasty horrible person and she bought so much pain and suffering to our family and many others what she did to our son was evil the supposed evil Tracy Bruce did was to expel Donna's son Harrison for inappropriate behavior on the school bus he's made a silly immature comment once-off never happened before and it's never happened since and the thing is - he was egged on by his friends to say that comment and he just said it so what did Tracy Brice call your son she called him a sexual predator the comments of the parents that I made about their child absolutely did not make those comments did you call this on a sexual predator not at all not at all why would they say that sometimes when you're talking to people and you're describing a situation so if you say to them your child was involved in a physical incident at the school their behavior could be seen as bullying this is unacceptable the parent can walk away go you called my child a bully Tracy says parents of misbehaving children often hear what they think they hear but Miguel is adamant he heard sexual predator and Miguel as you'll discover in this story is often adamant we have not made one single thing up so is it your word against hers what do you think so because we were both present in that meeting that day but principal Tracy had her own witness at the meeting who principal who was swiftly put in his place by Miguel the deputy principal he went to say something I looked at him in the eyes and I said you just shut up stand in that corner and look out the window I'm here to talk to the head not the ass what did you write I wrote that she's a liar a manipulator gets off on belittling people he's responsible for every failure at the school and is not an educator in the early hours of that same morning another parent Trudi Arnold also went online to have a crack at Tracy Bruce it was 1:30 in the morning I'd had a couple of Bourbons and I was got scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook and this support Tracy bras come through there were some horrendous comments on there like really really bad ones some 100 dead some called her dreadful names horrible so and I thought oh bugger had I'll ever go to Trudy always believed Tracy Bruce had ignored her daughter Madison in favor of brightest students but Madison had left the school two years before Facebook finally gave Trudy the chance to get even with the principal if you'd read comments like that made about you how would you feel if I was the principal of a high school I take it in my stride really part of the parcel of the job isn't it you know you got a cop the good with the bad she's not just the principal of the school she's a human too of course and she should probably treat other people like they're humans as well and then she might get the same respect back if you're not happy with a decision I make all my actions you have every right to complain to my supervisor you have every right to have my actions and my decisions scrutinized but you don't have a right to go online and write nasty things about me and to destroy my reputation late that night as the small group of ex parents hijacked the online discussion tracy is finally alerted the first I knew of it was when my little brother and sister actually started sending me screenshots of what had actually happened and I was devastated I just sat and sobbed hysterically people who said I'm a monster I'm a bully the very thing I stand against and I protect children from I am now and why would you trust your children with me do you regret making those comments No there what happened to us and what we think she was bullying us and intimidating us and talking down at us and she made it quite clear that our son wasn't worth welcome at her school the words words strong they were words meant to hurt there was no other purpose other than to hurt me was there on any part of you that thought no this is nonsense this isn't true this isn't how I couldn't conduct my life my education doesn't matter what I think if my 15 year old daughter reads them my elderly father reads them my neighbours read them there is no truth meter on social media that's the problem I don't get I don't have a voice I don't get to defend myself and say what you're writing isn't true the parents had fired the first shots but they were about to wake up to the fight of their life tracy bruce decided enough was enough what would you say to people out there who would look at this and just sort of say toughen up yeah everyone cops abuse you're a principal you should be immune to this kind of abuse toughen up yeah yeah if I just toughen up and go yeah it's okay then that becomes the norm what they did was horrendous absolutely and us why worry about something that's not true why worry it's not gonna ruin your reputation is it you know it's not true everyone else is going to know it's not true so who cares Tracy instructed a lawyer to give the trolling parents a simple choice apologize or be sued for defamation of the original parents who posted negative comments most apologized but a core group refused including Trudy Arnold seemingly oblivious to the war she'd helped start writing those comments at 1:30 in the morning what's that a silly thing to do in hindsight quite possibly but you know I'm an honest person I'd probably do it again anyway I think it's pathetic and I think it's ridiculous for a woman her age hurt feelings she's a principal of a high school for God's sake and has been for bloody over 10 years at that point there is no option what you've done is against the law and you need to take these comments down and you need to retract them and you need to apologize as for Donna and Miguel not only was there no apology at one point Miguel sent Tracy's lawyer a reply that was well adamant I basically told her shove it off his ass the situation was quickly spiraling out of their control but Miguel and Donna were not about to surrender she's out for revenge ants on anybody that speaks out against her and that's all we did we're parents that make complaints and now she's out to get us she's picking the low fruit and the tree to stop anybody from saying anything do you think she'll win don't care if she wins or not coming up you can't mediate with a tyrant nothing left to lose but still no retreat please just apologize that's all walk away sorry the battlefield you have to lose a battle to win a war their whole purpose of being there was to humiliate me moves to a corpse bring it on that's next on 60 minutes last three and a half years of our lives every night every day every weekend this is what our lives have become the pain stress and suffering Donna and Miguel de Lucas are bankrupt they've spent so much on legal fees their lawyer now owns their house that was our last resort we started to incur cost of the cost after costs and borrowing more money off mum and dad all the time all this paperwork is their attempt to represent themselves in a losing legal battle against the principle of this sons old school look I've just done the best that I can do after paying lawyers to do our defenses and they kept getting struck out I said to Miguel I can't keep borrowing money anymore I'm gonna have to try and do it myself it's all because late one night in 2016 they let their finger do the talking but so much pain and suffering to our family Facebook was their weapon against principal Tracy Bruce not an investigator she's not a judgment it was an online parent-teacher night that spilled into a real-life war she's nothing but an evil nasty horrible person this whole process over the last three and a half years actually confirms to me that she is an evil nasty horrible person so you stand by those words I do yes you can't mediate with a tyrant I need to stand up and I need to say this is not okay you cannot treat people like this you need to be accountable if you're going to do that online Tracy Bros who's been principal of tambourine Mountain High School for nearly 20 years is suing for parents who she says bullied her online with abusive posts and who will not say sorry Trudy Arnold is one liar a manipulator what I said I meant I won't retracted I won't take it back and I don't really don't believe that anything that any of us said made any difference to that woman whatsoever the final parent sued by Tracy Bruce is Laura Lawson who posted that the principal had made her children's lives and nightmare have you apologized for what you wrote No will you apologize no other parents have made apologies yes f that that's up to them if that's what they wanted to do and that is fine but those apologies came with money after three and a half years with no apologies and no back downs the case of the principal versus the parents finally got to court here on the Gold Coast in October last year by that stage the four parents involved were either bankrupt or pretty much financially ruined they'd lost homes and savings and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees got nothing to lose I've just lost my house my car I've lost everything all my assets they're all gone there's not a cent that I have for her what else can you get from me we've got nothing I don't own a home other defendants have lost their homes life has gone I don't have a life anymore have existed for three and a half years because of some stupid woman's hurt feelings I have nothing left to lose so why not keep fighting and so they fight on I felt gutted I just want to say you know the please just apologize let's all walk away it doesn't have to be like this and when you watch people saying you know I've lost my home because of this none of the sale of any home has come to me they've lost their home trying to make bad decisions to defend statements they put online for the galue schizos Laura Lawson and Trudy Arnold the case is no longer about winning or losing it's about trying to convince a judge and the public following us in the tabloid media that they are the victims and Tracey Bruce the bully and I walk in there with a big smile I face thinking exposuretime lady you're gonna get exposed thank you very much because at the end of all this we have not created any of this men she her friends her lawyers have I'm like bring it on that marked information trials underway at Southport court in court it swiftly became clear that this would be a landmark case on several fronts taking the witness stand the principal appearing visibly distressed for principal Tracey Bruce her supporters aligning the sand by teachers against what they perceived to be bullying parents for the parents it was a chance to humiliate the woman they say has ruined them it was a circus an absolute circus their whole purpose of being there was to do as much damage to me as they could possibly do in the courtroom you have to lose a battle to win a war that's the way it's always been they might think they're winning the battle or whatever but know what at the end of the day this exposure that we've done yeah he's going to open up the can of worms that's going to win the war against people like her taking on the parents has also cost principal Tracey Bros and her husband Peter dearly they've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending her reputation other parents originally included in her lawsuit have apologized and some paid damages to cover her costs and damages are certainly part of her court case against Donna McGill Trudy and Laura we know of course the judge may rule in your favor but not award damages yeah where would that leave you I have no expectation on the judge to award damages the reality is there is no money coming our way there's been lots and lots of media around this is all the money grab and everything like that and there's certainly no money coming our way what I need from the judge is for her to say you cannot do this anymore you cannot continue to ruin Tracy's reputation you cannot believe her and you must stop because I need these people to stop why why because the behavior has become so extreme that I am now unsafe coming up open talk to you brought for you completely out of control this is my castle and this person came who did this to my home but after years of purity that's Miguel reaching breaking point oh here comes the judge four years of fighting we have just lost everything that's next on 60 minutes may 21st 2018 late night at the home of Tamborine mountain high school principal Tracey Bruce she her husband Peter and their three children are watching TV but outside someone is watching them one of the parents she's suing for posting online comments she believes defamed her Miguel Baloo's cos all my life I've been pushed around by people and as I've gotten older I've realized hang on a second the only way to stop this is to push back the next minute just a huge bang and the bolts flew at the top there and I've gone like hollered what's going on Miguel goes berserk inside there's sheer terror the children locked themselves in a cupboard once you told many many many times that our young children were in here you need to stop Miguel's frenzied attack lasts 25 minutes [Music] but it's not acceptable to smash somebody's drawing like that that's flying into their mouth sure yeah that's that you know what what I did there is what I said I was going to do and what I said I was going to do from the very very beginning what was going through your mind when he kicked in the door in that glass kept in its really simple Sarah I said open the door and talk to me I'll open the door for you Miguel was convicted of unlawful damage but both he and Donna are unrepentant did you know her children were at home as well does she know that my children live in my house as well she's been terminating us and our family for many years so that's Miguel reaching breaking point yeah that's three years in the making what had begun one night in 2016 as a few disgruntled parents trolling Tracy Bruce online had finally turned violent how can you justify going around at someone's house in the middle of the night smashing the doors down it's terrifying their kids and not leaving until you're threatened with a knife like how do you get to that point and why would you get to that point this is my castle this is where my children feel safe to sleep every night and this person came and did this to my home and the purpose for doing it was to discourage me from this legal action it's the eve of the decision Donna and Miguel will soon know if the judge has believed anything they've said including their latest wild claim that the whole case is a conspiracy against them we have just lost everything four years of fighting false claims false allegations lost the house lost the car lost the caravan had been sent bankrupt by this [ __ ] who has sent us down a trail of false claims Friday morning after four long years of what has surely been the most bitter parent-teacher battle in Australian history there will be a verdict I don't need money I don't need damages I need her to say this isn't okay and it needs to stop because if she doesn't say it needs to stop what then next week they get back online and write more stuff they're bashing at you door again what happens to educators if we can't feel safe doing our jobs it's the final showdown between principal Tracy Bruce and Miguel Donna Laura Lawson and Trudy Arnold a few keystrokes late one night have cost nearly a million dollars in legal fees and damages now inside this courtroom it's judgment day minutes later it's over the defamation claims against Trudy and Laura are dismissed but Donna and Miguel are found to have defamed Tracy the judge rejecting their defenses and gagging them from repeating some of their allegations against her you know what I hurt people's feelings every day do you see me getting sued every day now - the law changes this is going to happen every day every day the judge also criticized principal Tracy Bruce saying at times her memory was selective but she sees the gag order against the be loose cases as her victory when you have people come to your home and beat down your front door to try and intimidate you and to bully you then the reality is at some point you have to say enough sanath do that to us anymore in terms of the pain money and the judges mixed decision in this extraordinary case perhaps there are no winners but in the end Traci bros feels vindicated as the principal who stood by her principals I decided that I couldn't live with myself if I actually just accepted that it's okay to treat teachers that way it's not if the intention on this case saves one teacher going through what I have gone through then it's all been worth it you can't disrespect people and you can't abuse people you need to be accountable if you're going to do that online hello I'm Sarah Arbor thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 816,869

Rating: 4.4801331 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Ray Martin, Peter Stefanovic, Jana Wendt, Peter Harvey, Michael Usher, Ross Coulthart, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, tracey brose, donna and miguel baluskas, trudie arnold, parents vs teachers, bullying teachers, social media, defamation, defamation law in australia, principal, school principal

Id: 22gnEKGh4Ko

Length: 25min 20sec (1520 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 01 2020