“We must protect MEN in #MeToo era: Academic, 52, loses£4m claim against London School of Economics after an assistant, in her 20s, ‘ruined his life’ with false claims when he rejected her”
“‘He’s a master manipulator’: Professor who put himself forward as a MeToo martyr after being accused of impropriety by spurned assistant is not what he seems, associate claims”
“Two conflicting versions of events, then, yet regardless of whether she had exposed herself to Ted or not, it is easy to see how the young woman would be intimidated by an overnight altercation in a hotel room with two middle-aged men her professional seniors”
“Despite repeated requests from the Mail, Dr Piepenbrock has not responded to the allegations against him”
“He was in a position of power, she looked up to him, and it got to the point where she felt unsafe”
“MeToo martyr or ‘manipulator’?”
“The Claimant claims compensation for damages arising from defamation (slander and libel) in accordance with theDefamation Act 2013 and arising from malicious falsehoods in accordance with theDefamation Act 1952 . These arise from defamatory articles about the Claimant published in the MailOnline on12 October 2018 and the Daily Mail on13 October 2018 and which contain defamatory statements and malicious falsehoods made by Associated Newspapers Ltd and Ms Joanne Hay, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the [LSE], while acting in the course of her employment with the LSE.”
“The Claimant claims compensation for personal injury, loss and damage arising from psychiatric injury caused by negligence and /or breach of statutory duty and/or harassment under the Protection fromHarassment Act 1997 (including Harassment by Publication) and/or discrimination under theEquality Act 2010 (including sex and disability discrimination) and/or violation of theHuman Rights Act 1998 (Articles 8 and 10) and/or theData Protection Act 2018 and/or theGeneral Data Protection Regulations 2018 , by the Defendants, and/or their employees, and/or their owners, and/or their agents. These arise from matters including, but not limited to, defamatory articles about the Claimant published in the MailOnline on10 October 2018 and12 October 2018 , and the Daily Mail on13 October 2018 , which contain false and defamatory statements made and enabled by Associated Newspapers Ltd (and their owners and agents) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (and their agents). Since these articles remain public, they constitute ongoing and continuing acts.”
“As the High Court ruled in 2018 that the LSE was found to have caused the Claimant’s career-ending disability and personal injury (albeit not foreseeably so at the time), the disabled autistic Claimant seeks damages including for his lost ‘residual earnings’, which is calculated to be in excess of£1 million as shown later in the Particulars of Damages.”
“The LSE and ANL had a duty of care towards Dr Piepenbrock as the subject of their journalism, not to destroy his life and career (with false and malicious career-ending allegations and false and defamatory statements) and not to foreseeably cause a further personal psychiatric injury on the basis of their defamation, harassment and discrimination. They equally have a duty of care to the public, as providers of ‘information’ as publishers and ‘sources’, not to lie and mislead them with false material about Dr Piepenbrock. The Defendant’s acted negligently and breached the statutory duty of care that they owed to the Claimant.”
“First, as the Claimant is a former employee of the LSE and the subject of their statements as a ‘source’, there is a clear relationship of proximity between the Claimant and the LSE, and as the Claimant is the subject of ANL’s three articles, there is a clear relationship of proximity between the Claimant and the ANL. Second, as detailed above, the Claimant’s injury was highly foreseeable to the LSE and ANL. Third it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty on the LSE and ANL for the reasons given above and because they grossly violated his HRA and ECHR rights (which will be detailed later) which they had a duty to respect, and they have duties to the subjects and recipients of their journalism in line with their professional obligations (see for example the ‘Editor’s Code of Practice’ detailed later in this section). Just as common carriers, (e.g. bus drivers, train drivers and airplane pilots) have an established duty of care to passengers, the press and its sources have a duty of care to the subjects or ‘suppliers’ of their journalism and to their readers or ‘customers’.”
“In addition, the Claimant will produce medical documentation during the discovery phase of this litigation chronicling his autism and chronic depression since the defamatory publications…As the Claimant is disabled and unemployed due to the actions of the Defendants, he cannot afford to hire a new medical expert to produce a new report for the court in this litigation.”
“As a Litigant in Person, the Claimant does not know whether or not he is required to prove that the statements that cause his new/worsened personal psychiatric injury were legally defamatory and/or malicious falsehoods. Therefore, erring on the side of caution in this regard, the Claimant will show that these statements were defamatory and/or malicious falsehoods, and if this is not required then this analysis will in any event be helpful to show how and why the statements caused serious harm and psychiatric injury to the Claimant.”
“Under the PHA 1997, the Defendants behaved in an oppressive and unacceptable manner, with their actions constituting a clear course of conduct of harassment. Furthermore, the Defendants are guilty of Harassment by Publication, as was the case in Thomas v News Group Newspapers Ltd…”
“Some of these acts were carried out by [D9] while she was acting in the course of her employment at the LSE. After Dr Piepenbrock terminated [her] employment with him on15 November 2012 and she subsequently resigned from the LSE on18 November 2012 , the LSE was still vicariously liable for her actions as an alumni of the LSE and as a former employee of the LSE, which were tied to her employment at the LSE.”
“592. The LSE and ANL have also harassed the Claimant as Defendants themselves, which adds to their course of oppressive and unacceptable conduct through their individual actors. The LSE and ANL have been harassing the disabled autistic Dr Piepenbrock over costs for which they unequivocally know that there is no prospect of success of recovering. The LSE caused Dr Piepenbrock to be disabled, unemployed and facing bankruptcy for the past nearly decade, making him a ‘Man of Straw’ with no income or assets and only considerable liabilities, which the Defendants clearly know through the 2018 High Court proceedings, countless medical reports and countless correspondence from the Claimant and his representatives informing them that this is the case. In fact, the LSE even admit that they cannot get secure any costs from Dr Piepenbrock when they unequivocally stated in their second failed application to Strike Out Dr Piepenbrock’s meritorious ET claim: ‘…the Claimant routinely describes himself as ‘bankrupt’ in correspondence…the Claimant was ordered to pay the Respondent£25,000 on account by31 July 2020 but to date he had not done so. There is undoubtedly little prospect of the Respondent being able to enforce an order for costs against the Claimant in these circumstances.’ 593. Although the LSE clearly acknowledges that Dr Piepenbrock is a ‘Man of Straw’ with no income or assets and only considerable liabilities, they continue to maliciously and vexatiously pursue him for costs, threatening further legal actions against him. [Reference is then made to a21 October 2021 letter from Pinsent Masons, the LSE’s former solicitors] 594. The only plausible reason that the LSE would go after a disabled ‘Man of Straw’ whom they have known for years cannot pay any costs, is to harass him and cause as much fear and distress to the innocent disabled autistic man as possible so that he gives up his pursuit of justice against the Defendants.” (Emphasis in the text.)
“…occurred when, because of his sex, the Defendants treated him worse than someone of the opposite sex who is in a similar situation, which began when the Claimant was an employee at the LSE and continued when the Defendants defamed and harassed the Claimant in the media in October 2018, prejudging him as guilty on the basis of his sex.”
“The Claimant was treated badly (e.g. defamed in the international media) by the Defendants because he made complaints of sexual assault, harassment, gross sexual misconduct, and sex discrimination against the LSE.”
“…expecting a person like the Claimant, with a known, serious long-term mental health illness and disability to have to answer false and malicious allegations from a known stalker on a path of malicious vengeance like Ms Hay, in an incredibly short time frame (shorter than one would expect someone who does not have such a mental disability) is indirect disability discrimination. This especially the case for autistics such as the Claimant who (because of their obsession with truth and justice) find it extremely difficult to deal with lies and false accusations, which will likely lead to autistic meltdowns/shutdowns. This is what happened in the Claimant’s case.”
“The Daily Mail / Mail Online’s defamatory articles of 10 –13 October 2018 , have caused ‘serious harm’ and immense damage to the Claimant’s health and career. He will therefore never work again, and he had not worked since the defamatory articles were published. He will therefore lose the ‘residual’ income that it was believed that he could have earned after the High Court lawsuit ended, were it not for the malicious and/or negligent actions of the Defendants in this case. The Defendants’ actions were career ending for this extraordinary man, who formerly earned$10,000 per hour for his lectures and whose successful and lucrative career was valued at£4 million for his 2018 High Court trial.”
“In principle, the Claimant could have begun his ‘residual’ career after a successful High Court judgement in October 2018. Instead, as a result of the Defendant’s malicious and/or negligent actions described in these particulars of claim, the Claimant will have no ‘residual’ earning capacity in the future, as he has not worked since the Defendant’s defamation due to the deepened psychiatric illness foreseeably caused by the Defendants as well as due to the greatly reduced/tarnished reputation that the Claimant now has, especially in the ‘business management guru’ marketplace, which he previous enjoyed.”
“(2) The court may strike out a statement of case if it appears to the court- (a) that the statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the claim; (b) that the statement of case is an abuse of the court’s process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings; or (c) that there has been a failure to comply with a rule, practice direction or court order.” (a) that the statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the claim; (b) that the statement of case is an abuse of the court’s process or is otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings; or (c) that there has been a failure to comply with a rule, practice direction or court order.”
“(4) Where- (a) the court has struck out a claimant’s case; (b) the claimant has been ordered to pay costs to the defendant; and (c) before the claimant pays those costs, the claimant starts another claim against the same defendant, arising out of facts which are the same or substantially the same as those relating to the claim in which the statement of case was struck out, the court may, on the application of the defendant, stay that other claim until the costs of the first claim have been paid.” (a) the court has struck out a claimant’s case; (b) the claimant has been ordered to pay costs to the defendant; and (c) before the claimant pays those costs, the claimant starts another claim against the same defendant, arising out of facts which are the same or substantially the same as those relating to the claim in which the statement of case was struck out, the court may, on the application of the defendant, stay that other claim until the costs of the first claim have been paid.”
“The court must consider whether the claimant has a ‘realistic’ as opposed to a ‘fanciful’ prospect of success: Swain v Hillman[2001] 1 All ER 91 . A realistic claim is one that carries some degree of conviction: ED & F Man Liquid Products v Patel[2003] EWCA Civ 472 . But that should not be carried too far: in essence, the court is determining whether or not the claim is ‘bound to fail’: Altimo Holdings v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd[2012] 1 WLR 1804 at [80] and [82].”
“iii) In reaching its conclusion the court must not conduct a ‘mini-trial’: Swain v Hillman; iv) This does not mean that the court must take at face value and without analysis everything that a claimant says in his statements before the court. In some cases it may be clear that there is no real substance in factual assertions made, particularly if contradicted by contemporaneous documents: ED & F Man Liquid Products v Patel at [10]; v) However, in reaching its conclusion the court must take into account not only the evidence actually placed before it but also the evidence that can reasonably be expected to be available at trial: Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Trust v Hammond (No 5)[2001] EWCA Civ 550 ; vi) Although a case may turn out at trial not to be really complicated, it does not follow that it should be decided without the fuller investigation into the facts at trial than is possible or permissible on summary judgment. Thus the court should hesitate about making a final decision…where reasonable grounds exist for believing that a fuller investigation into the facts of the case would add to or alter the evidence available to the trial judge and so affect the outcome of the case: Doncaster Pharmaceuticals Group Ltd v Bolton Pharmaceutical Co 100 Ltd[2007] FSR 63 ; vii) …if the court is satisfied that it has before it all the evidence necessary for the proper determination of the question and that the parties have had an adequate opportunity to address it in argument, it should grasp the nettle and decide it…If it is possible to show by evidence that although material in the form of documents or oral evidence that would put the documents in another light is not currently before the court, such material is likely to exist and can be expected to be available at trial, it would be wrong to give summary judgment because there would be a real, as opposed to a fanciful, prospect of success. However, it is not enough simply to argue that the case should be allowed to go to trial because something may turn up which would have a bearing on the question of construction: ICI Chemicals & Polymers Ltd v TTE Training Ltd[2007] EWCA Civ 725 .”
“In my speech in the Bedfordshire case[1995] 2 AC 633 , 740 – 741 with which the other members of the House agreed, I pointed out that unless it was possible to give a certain answer to the question whether the plaintiff’s claim would succeed, the case was inappropriate for striking out. I further said that in an area of law that was uncertain and developing (such as the circumstances in which a person can be held liable in negligence for the exercise of a statutory duty or power) it is not normally appropriate to strike out. In my judgment it is of great importance that such developments should be on the basis of actual facts found at trial not on hypothetical facts assumed (possibly wrongly) to be true for the purposes of the strike-out.”
“The first principle is that once a cause of action has been held to exist or not exist, that outcome may not be challenged by either party in subsequent proceedings. This is ‘cause of action estoppel’. It is properly described as a form of estoppel precluding a party from challenging the same cause of action in subsequent proceedings……Fourth, there is the principle that even where the cause of action is not the same in the later action as it was in the earlier one, some issue which is necessarily common to both was decided on the other earlier occasion and is binding of the parties… ‘Issue estoppel’ was the expression devised to describe this principle by Higgins J in Hoysted vFederal Commissioner of Taxation(1921) 29 CLR 537 , 561 and adopted by Diplock LJ in Thoday v Thoday[1964] P 181 , 197 – 198. Fifth, there is the principle first formulated by Wigram V-C in Henderson v Henderson (1843) 3 Hare 100, 115, which precludes a party from raising in subsequent proceedings matters which were not, but could and should have been raised in the earlier ones. Finally, there is the more general procedural rule against abusive proceedings, which may be regarded as the policy underlying all of the above principles with the possible exception of the doctrine of merger.”
“The bringing of a claim or the raising of a defence in later proceedings may, without more, amount to abuse if the court is satisfied (the onus being on the party alleging abuse) that the claim or defence should have been raised in the earlier proceedings if it was to be raised at all. I would not accept that it is necessary, before abuse may be found, to identify any additional element such as a collateral attack on a previous decision or some other dishonesty, but where those elements are present the later proceedings will be much more obviously abusive, and there will rarely be a finding of abuse unless the later proceeding involves what the court regards as unjust harassment of a party. It is, however, wrong to hold that because a matter could have been raised in earlier proceedings it should have been, so as to render the raising of it in later proceedings necessarily abusive. That is to adopt too dogmatic an approach to what should in my opinion be a broad, merits-based judgment which takes account of the public and private interests involved and also takes account of all the facts of the case, focusing attention on the crucial question whether, in all the circumstances, a party is misusing or abusing the process of the court by seeking to raise before it the issue which could have been raised before. As one cannot comprehensively list all possible forms of abuse, so one cannot formulate any hard and fast rule to determine whether, on given facts, abuse is to be found or not.”
“i) Where A has brought an action against B, a later action against B or C may be struck out where the second action is an abuse of process. ii) A later action against B is much more likely to be held to be an abuse of process than a later action against C. iii) The burden of establishing abuse of process is on B or C as the case may be. iv) It is wrong to hold that because a matter could have been raised in the earlier proceedings it should have been, so as to render the raising of it in later proceedings necessarily abusive. v) The question in every case is whether applying a broad merits based approach, A’s conduct is in all the circumstances an abuse of process. vi) The court will rarely find that the later action is an abuse of process unless the later action involves unjust harassment or oppression of B or C.”
“In the ordinary run of cases, courts consider what has been decided previously and follow the precedents (unless it is necessary to consider whether the precedents should be departed from). In cases where the question whether a duty of care arises has not previously been decided, the courts will consider the closest analogies in the existing law, with a view to maintaining the coherence of the law and the avoidance of inappropriate distinctions. They will weigh up the reasons for and against imposing liability, in order to decide whether the existence of a duty of care would be just and reasonable.”
“The law protects reputation in a variety of ways in different circumstances. Causes of action such as libel, slander, malicious falsehood and passing off are designed to protect reputation. Moreover, a variety of other causes of action, including breach of confidence, misuse of private information and causes of action in relation to data protection and intellectual property, may often indirectly achieve this result. The common law does not usually recognise a duty of care in the tort of negligence to protect reputational interests. However, there are exceptions. In Spring v Guardian Assurance plc[1995] 2 AC 296 a majority of the House of Lords held that an employer who gave a reference in respect of a former employee owed that employee a duty to take reasonable care in its preparation and would be liable to him in negligence for breach of duty which caused him economic loss. Lord Lowry, Lord Slynn and Lord Woolf reached this conclusion on the basis of the three ingredients identified by Lord Bridge in Caparo. Lord Goff concluded at p 316E-F, that a duty of care was owed to the former employee on a narrower ground. In his view the source of the duty of care was the principle in Hedley Byrne & Co v Heller & Partners Ltd[1964] AC 465 , i e an assumption of responsibility by the authors of the reference to the plaintiff in respect of the reference, and reliance by the plaintiff upon the exercise by them of due care and skill in respect of its preparation. This case was essentially concerned with negligent misstatement and it may be that assumption of responsibility is the better rationalisation of the recognition of a duty in these circumstances.”
“…to permit [the plaintiffs] to sue the defendants for damage caused by breach of alleged duties of care, namely, in the case of the newspapers, to adequately investigate…It would appear that these duties would apply in the case of any media defendant. It seems also that any person being interviewed by a journalist in connection with a forthcoming story would be under a duty to refer the journalist to any person potentially affected by it. So, where there was to be a statement about goods in the story, the person being interviewed would be under a duty to refer the journalist to the supplier of the goods. These would be far reaching duties which a newspaper, its reporters and their interviewees would have to fulfil many times every day.”
“On the facts, however, a sufficiently close relationship of proximity was not made out. There were only two telephone interviews between the plaintiffs and the defendants, and no other pre-existing relationship between the parties. While in a general sense the media has, or should have, an obligation to adequately investigate a story to ensure the accuracy of the facts about any person referred to in the story, and to obtain that person’s side of the story, to say that these contacts by themselves gave rise to a duty of care would mean that in virtually every case a plaintiff could proceed with a negligence claim as well as a defamation claim.”
“Freedom to report the truth is a basic right to which the law gives a very high level of protection…It is difficult to envisage any circumstances in which speech which is not deceptive, threatening or possibly abusive, could give rise to liability in tort for wilful infringement of another’s right to personal safety. The right to report the truth is justification in itself…there is no general law prohibiting the publication of facts which cause distress to another, even if that is the person’s intention…”
“1. Prohibition of harassment (1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct- (a) which amounts to harassment of another, and (b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other. ….. (2) For the purposes of this section…the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to or involves harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other. (3) Subsection (1)…does not apply to a course of conduct if the person who pursued it shows- (a) that it was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, (b) that it was pursued under any enactment or rule of law or to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any enactment, or (c) that in the particular circumstances, the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable. 3. Civil remedy (1) An actual or apprehended breach of section 1(1) may be the subject of a claim in civil proceedings by the person who is or may be the victim of the course of conduct in question. (2) On such a claim damages may be award for (among other things) any anxiety caused by the harassment and any financial loss resulting from the harassment. ….. 7. Interpretation of this group of sections (1) This section applies for the interpretation of sections 1 to 5A. (2) References to harassing a person include alarming that person or causing the person distress. (3) A ‘course of conduct’ must involve- (a) in the case of conduct in relation to a single person (section 1(1)), conduct on at least two occasions in relation to that person, ….. (a) which amounts to harassment of another, and (b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other. ….. (a) that it was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, (b) that it was pursued under any enactment or rule of law or to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any enactment, or (c) that in the particular circumstances, the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable. ….. (a) in the case of conduct in relation to a single person (section 1(1)), conduct on at least two occasions in relation to that person, ….. (4) Conduct includes speech. ”
“32. Whether conduct is reasonable will depend upon the circumstances of the particular case. When considering whether the conduct of the press in publishing articles is reasonable for the purposes of 1997 Act, the answer does not turn upon whether opinions expressed in the article are reasonably held. The question must be answered by reference to the right of the press to freedom of expression which has been so emphatically recognised by the jurisprudence both of Strasbourg and this country. 33. …Protection of reputation is a legitimate reason to restrict freedom of expression. Subject to the law of defamation, the press was entitled to publish an article, or series of articles, about an individual, notwithstanding that it could be foreseen that such conduct was likely to cause distress to the subject of the article. 34. The 1997 Act has not rendered such conduct unlawful. In general press criticism, even if robust, does not constitute unreasonable conduct and does not fall within the natural meaning of harassment. A pleading, which does no more than allege that the defendant newspaper has published a series of articles that have foreseeably caused distress to an individual, will be susceptible to a strike-out on the ground that it discloses no arguable case of harassment. 35. It is common ground between the parties to this appeal, and properly so, that before press publications are capable of constituting harassment, they must be attended by some exceptional circumstance which justifies sanctions and restriction on the freedom of expression that they involve. It is also common ground that such circumstances will be rare. ….. 37. …the parties are agreed that the publication of press articles calculated to incite racial hatred of an individual provides an example of conduct which is capable of amounting to harassment under the 1997 Act…Mr Browne recognises that the Convention right of freedom of expression does not extend to protect remarks directly against the Convention’s underlying values… ….. 50. ….On my analysis, the test requires the publisher to consider whether a proposed series of articles, which is likely to cause distress to an individual, will constitute an abuse of the freedom of the press which the pressing social needs of a democratic society required should be curbed.” (Emphasis added)
“The contrast is drawn in the Act between ‘public’ functions and ‘private’ acts. This cannot refer to whether or not the acts are performed in public or in private. There are many acts performed in public (such as singing in the street) which have nothing to do with public functions. And there are many acts performed in private which are nevertheless in the exercise of public functions (such as care or prisoners or compulsory psychiatric patients). The contrast is between what is ‘public’ in the sense of it being done for or by or on behalf of the people as a whole and what is ‘private’ in the sense of being done for one’s own purposes.”
“the court ordering written material to be deleted so that it may no longer be relied upon”
“Where the first claim has neither been adjudicated upon nor compromised, but merely struck out for specific procedural default or more generally for want of prosecution, then different types of potential abuse may arise. The first is where the claimant brings the second claimant without complying with any relevant order for costs made against him in the first. In such a case the potential for abuse lies in the unfairness of putting the defendant to the expenses of fresh proceedings whilst his costs of the previous proceedings remain unpaid…It has been recognised since the mid-nineteenth century that the normal response of the court to such a case is to stay the second claim until the costs ordered in the first claim have been paid.”
“I am satisfied that the answer to this point is entirely clear. In my judgment it is absolutely correct that every person is entitled to a fair and public hearing in respect of the determination of his civil rights and obligations. However, that provision is not a licence to attempt to litigate that determination more than once. Once an action has been commenced and has been struck out, it seems to me to be a proper exercise of the court’s powers to regulate its procedure to prevent further litigation over the same areas until the costs occasioned by the original unsuccessful attempt have been paid. It does not seem to me that can in any way be thought to be inconsistent with the right to a fair and public hearing of the determination of the claimant’s legal rights. In my judgment, to put the matter shortly, the claimant can indeed pursue the defendant once but if he fails, and in particular if the action is struck out then he may not pursue it again until he has put the defendant back in the position he was before the original action started by paying his costs.”
“A High Court claim must be issued in the [MAC] List if it is or includes a claim for defamation, or is or includes- (a) A claim for misuse of private information; (b) A claim in data protection law; or (c) A claim for harassment by publication.”