Suing Them Softly

Hugh Morgan, the President of the Business Council of Australia (BCA), lashed out at a proposal by state attorney generals to prevent corporations from suing for defamation. Morgan wrote that the BCA - which includes among its members the Australian CEOs of McDonald's, BP and Shell - believes that corporations are "suing only in exceptional circumstances." According to Morgan - who gained notoriety for his outbursts against the Aboriginal community, unions and environmentalists - corporations must "defend their reputations from false, dishonest or malicious campaigns." The Australian Financial Review reported that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a BCA member, was suing the Finance Sector Union on the grounds that a "shareholder campaign targeting ordinary, corporate and employee shareholders" before the company's November 2004 general meeting constituted illegal industrial action.