On 20 April 2020, Justice Geoffrey Venning of the Auckland High Court dismissed Peters' case against Bennett, Tolley, the Ministry of Social Development, Boyle, and Hughes on the basis that Peters had not been able to establish that they were responsible for the disclosure of the payment irregularity to the media. However, the High Court also ruled that Peters' privacy had been deliberately breached during the lead-up to the 2017 general election in order to publicly embarrass him and cause him harm.