Swiss court cuts damages Ringier must pay politician for sensational articles

The Ringier media group has won a partial victory in its appeal against a lower court ruling that ordered it to pay damages to former politician Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin. The Zug Cantonal Court had initially ordered Ringier to pay Spiess-Hegglin 309,531 Swiss francs in profits earned from four "personality-damaging articles" published in the "Blick" newspaper.

These articles, published in December 2014 and 2015, sensationally reported on the aftermath of a Landammann celebration in December 2014, which involved a sexual encounter between Spiess-Hegglin, then a Green Party cantonal councilor, and an SVP councilor. Spiess-Hegglin had initially sought 431,525 francs in damages.

The Zug Court of Appeal partially upheld Ringier's appeal, reducing the total profit to 139,228 francs. The court based its calculation on fewer ad impressions for online articles and used figures disclosed by Ringier for print advertising revenue, unlike the lower court's estimation based on advertising tariffs.

Additionally, the court ruled that both Spiess-Hegglin and Ringier must share the 15,000 franc legal costs for the proceedings. Despite the reduction in the awarded sum, Spiess-Hegglin reportedly described the Court of Appeal's ruling as a "milestone."

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Meilenstein