According to ABC News, counsel representing Mark Forytarz and Paul Castran from the agency Castran Gilbert had appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court for a directions hearing, where they alleged their clients had been defamed by articles found through Google internet searches.
The plaintiffs claim the articles suggest Mr Forytarz bullied an intellectually disabled man into selling his home in order to claim a commission of at least $200,000, the ABC said.
Counsel for the agents claimed the article painted Mr Forytarz as unscrupulous and unethical and he suffered distress embarrassment and humiliation as a result.
They claimed too that another article claimed that Mr Castran had used dummy bidders at property auctions in order to inflate the bids, and that the complainants had asked Google to remove the search links but had not occurred.
While there are a number of similar cases against Google elsewhere in the world, this is thought to be the first case of its kind in Australia.
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