Bluff fisherman John Edminstin's infamous "lying slut" comment is likely to cost him more than $100,000.

Former Bluff Community Board chairwoman Jan Mitchell sued Edminstin after he called her a lying slut at a Bluff Community Board meeting in October 2011.

Mitchell won the resulting court case which found she had been defamed and was awarded $40,000 in damages, but Edminstin said he was going to appeal.

However, yesterday Mitchell said Edminstin had not appealed and they had agreed to settle through their lawyers.

Edminstin was required to pay a significant sum toward Mitchell's legal fees and the $40,000. The Southland Times understands the total cost to Edminstin, including his own legal fees, is likely to exceed $100,000.

Mitchell and her husband, Alan, indicated yesterday Edminstin could have saved himself a lot of money from the outset.

In the days following the remark, which was reported in The Southland Times, Mitchell asked Edminstin to apologise and pay a $10,000 donation to the hospice organisation. He refused to do so.

"He made the choice not to make that donation to charity . . . it would have all gone away," Mitchell said.

She indicated her husband was a driver for the case going to court.

"It was my husband's decision that his wife wasn't going to be addressed in such a manner and it progressed from there."

Alan Mitchell confirmed this, saying he was raised by his father to respect women.

He felt sad when men verbally abused women, he said.

"I have never done it to my wife and I wasn't going to see anyone else do it to her. Simple as that.

"I may be old school but that's just the way I am."

Jan Mitchell's lawyer, Roger Eagles, said defamation cases were expensive to bring and to defend.

"If you go the whole distance and you lose, it can be very expensive," Eagles said.

Edminstin could not be contacted yesterday.