Brisbane restaurant owner loses defamation appeal over Facebook posts targeting chef
A Brisbane restaurateur has been ordered to pay $40,000 in damages and court costs after a Supreme Court appeal failed to overturn a defamation finding stemming from a series of Facebook posts targeting a former chef.
Trang Hien Thi Chu, who previously operated Vietnamese restaurant Buncha Buncha in Stones Corner, was originally found to have defamed chef Bao Ninh Huynh following four posts made in local Vietnamese-language Facebook groups between July and September 2022. A District Court judge determined the posts falsely accused Huynh of dishonestly entering a business venture with Chu, conspiring to steal her recipes, and forcing her out of the business.
Among the posts, Chu wrote: "Many people have heard inaccurate propaganda from the shop's employees, asking if I went to the Buncha Inala shop or got compensated, I would like to state that I LOST MY SHOP. I am the soul of Buncha Buncha."
Huynh gave evidence that the Vietnamese-language posts had caused serious harm to his standing within the local community, with many members having seen them. The Facebook group in which the posts appeared had approximately 30,000 members.
Chu did not attend the original trial and chose to appeal on two grounds: that the posts had not caused Huynh serious harm, and that the $40,000 damages award was excessive. Brisbane's Supreme Court dismissed both arguments this week.
Presiding Justice Shane Doyle acknowledged the award was perhaps "very generous" given Huynh had not proven financial loss, but found it did not constitute an appealable error.
"There was direct evidence of [Mr Huynh's] good reputation prior to the publications," Justice Doyle said. "There was also direct evidence of the caution with which others approached him in terms of his honesty subsequently. This has not been proven to have caused him financial loss in his business but rather has affected his relationships with friends (including a close friend), social contacts and people at church."
The court heard the reputational damage extended to Huynh's church community and badminton club. Justice Doyle upheld original trial judge Brian Devereaux's finding that Huynh "suffered a degree of social exclusion and some loss of standing in the community."
Judge Devereaux had previously stated: "When Mr Huynh read the posts, he was shocked. He decided not to respond or react. He felt many people were attacking him, that people did not trust him."
On the question of serious harm, Justice Doyle concluded: "These posts were targeted to a particular audience and were noticed by a significant number of people."
Dismissing the damages appeal, he added: "In this case a finding of serious harm was made out and it did cause distress to [Mr Huynh] which persisted for some time … In my view the award, though generous, perhaps even very generous, is not shown to be the result of an error in that sense."
Justice Doyle also noted that Chu had never apologised to Huynh and had left the posts published for a number of years, which weighed against her appeal.
Buncha Buncha has since closed. Chu was ordered to pay Huynh's court costs in addition to the original damages award.
Jonathan Jackson, 11th June 2026
