Habermann v Cook Shire Council
[2025] QSC 214 · Henry J
Ellanna Habermann was a senior governance manager at Cook Shire Council in Cooktown. During a dispute between the Council and a local business, someone fabricated an email in her name that falsely made her appear racist and corrupt. The Council knew the email was fake and could easily have proven it, but failed to tell the people circulating it. The email was eventually tabled in State Parliament and spread publicly. This destroyed Mrs Habermann's reputation in her small community and caused a severe and lasting psychiatric illness that left her unable to work. The Council argued it owed no duty because third parties, not it, published the email. The Court rejected this, finding the Council, as her employer, had a duty to take reasonable steps to protect her and breached it. The judge awarded her about $2.36 million, mostly for her lost future earning capacity.
Incident & injury
Psychiatric injury suffered after an email fabricated in the plaintiff's name, falsely portraying her as racist and engaged in deceitful misuse of her position, was tabled in the Queensland Parliament; the plaintiff's employer Council negligently failed to demonstrate the email's falsity in a timely way, allowing it to be perpetuated in the public domain.
Read the findings as text
- Email known to be fake. Council could have proved it.
- Breach of duty. Failed to act in time.
- $2,359,038 awarded. [2025] QSC 214.
- Body regions
- Psychiatric
- Diagnoses
- Major depressive disorder with anxious distress
- Incident date
- 9 August 2017
- Location
- Cooktown, Cook Shire, Queensland
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 29 August 2025
- Claim type
- WCRA Common Law
- Proceeding
- Trial
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- ~39 (inferred)
- Occupation
- Governance and Risk Manager at Cook Shire Council Manager
- Liability
- Disputed
- ISV assessed
- 25 · WCRR Schedule 9 - mental disorder (PIRS 11-30%)
- Total damages
- $2,359,038 100th percentile · WCRA Common Law matters (n=29)
Outcome
The Court found Cook Shire Council breached its employer's duty of care by failing to reveal in a timely way the facts demonstrating a fabricated email (falsely depicting the plaintiff as racist) was false, allowing it to be tabled in Parliament and devastate the plaintiff's reputation and mental health. Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $2,359,037.64.
Defendant
1 Cook Shire Council
Employer
- Judgment against this defendant
- $2,359,038
Heads of damage
| General damages | $49,650 |
|---|---|
| Past economic loss | $803,794 |
| Interest on past EL | $97,903 |
| Future loss of economic capacity | $1,436,125 |
| Past special damages (plaintiff) | $24,401 |
| Past special damages (WorkCover) | $34,952 |
| Interest on past special damages | $3,148 |
| Future special damages | $25,000 |
| Fox v Wood | $25,785 |
| Subtotal before refunds | $2,500,759 |
Key issues
Habermann v Cook Shire Council [2025] QSC 214
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