“Gold digger”

Lugner wants €8,000 from a recipient of emergency aid

Simone Lugner, the widow of the builder, is demanding high compensation for defamation.(Bild: krone.tv)

In some courts, they are becoming all too common: lawsuits over online defamation brought by those who have been slandered. On Tuesday, it was an unemployment benefit recipient who had called Simone Lugner a “gold digger” in a hateful post. The Baumeister widow wanted 8,000 euros plus reimbursement of costs from him. “I was supposed to pay 11,000 euros,” the man said. 

Politicians should quickly address the need to amend this law, because otherwise our courts will soon be overwhelmed with private lawsuits over online defamation. The process is always the same: Someone posts a hateful comment or gives a thumbs-up to such a post. The person who was discredited then sends a letter through their lawyer to the hate poster, demanding a large sum of compensation plus reimbursement of legal fees. If this demand is not met, there is a private prosecution before a criminal court and, if necessary, additional civil proceedings.

“I can’t even afford the monthly payments”
One person who defends herself against defamatory posts in this way is Simone Lugner—and she has done so in numerous cases. On Tuesday, a 42-year-old man from Lower Austria sat in the defendant’s chair. He was unable to pay the 8,000 euros plus legal fees demanded in the warning letter. “I know I screwed up,” he explains.

“I also apologized to the lawyer for it. But I could never have paid the 11,000 euros. I can’t even pay the installments,” the man says, visibly upset during the trial at the Vienna Regional Court. The defendant speaks of his son, who is ill, and explains that he has been unable to work for two years as a result. The defendant, who has no prior convictions and receives emergency aid, has 1,000 euros available each month; 500 of those go toward child support for the children living with their mother. 

Baumeister’s widow, Simone Lugner, is seeking substantial damages for defamation.(Bild: krone.tv)

Attorney Florian Höllwarth represents Simone Lugner.(Bild: Eva Manhart)

Legal fees alone amount to 1,533 euros
Now he faces a criminal record; the judge makes it clear right away: “The term ‘gold digger’ is defamatory.” This makes a criminal conviction inevitable—unless a settlement is reached in court. But what’s already taking a bite out of the budget are the legal costs, which in this case alone amount to 1,533 euros.

In Courtroom 101, the compensation amount is haggled over like at a bazaar. 1,000 euros, then 700 euros, finally 500 euros. Attorney Florian Höllwarth makes concessions to the man, from whom there is obviously nothing to be gained. Nevertheless, the hate poster must come up with ten installments of 200 euros each and pay them on time so that the proceedings do not continue in court—and thus become even more expensive.

More and more private prosecutions
“I see even worse posts than mine under every article about Mrs. Lugner,” the defendant says to Höllwarth, “do they all have to pay thousands of euros too?” The judge calms him down: “Please don’t get rude.” But clearly none of the parties involved feels comfortable in the trial, which is, however, typical of many of its kind. And there are more and more of them...