Food giant Talley’s has lost its High Court bid to force TVNZ to identify whistleblowers who complained about the business.
In a ruling issued today, the court dismissed the company’s claim for to reveal the sources “in its entirety”.
Talley’s is suing TVNZ for defamation over a series of 1News reports in 2021 on health and safety issues, which Talley’s strongly denies.
During a court hearing in February, Talley’s lawyers argued that to get a fair trial they needed to know who the whistleblowers were so they could test their credibility and whether it was responsible for 1News to rely on those sources.
In the court ruling today, Judge Justice Andrew noted that TVNZ had reported on allegations factories were needlessly unsafe, management was turning a blind eye and businesses were being run “in a manner detrimental to the employees”.
TVNZ had promised whistleblowers who provided information that contributed to its reporting that their identities would not be disclosed. TVNZ had therefore withheld documents from Talley’s in the defamation case.
Justice Andrew said in the ruling: “I decline to require the defendants [TVNZ] to reconsider the claim of confidentiality, to order inspection for the Court, to set aside confidentiality, or to strike out the responsible publication defence.”
TVNZ said it was pleased with the result. “The High Court has affirmed there is an important public interest in protecting source confidentiality,” a spokesperson said.
“It’s important for TVNZ to tell these stories. We stand by our reporting and will continue to defend this claim.”
Talley’s was contacted for a response to the ruling but said it “declined to comment”.