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Naked sleepwalker wins libel case

Jonathan Winston Jonathan Winston
2 min read

An Irish businessman has won a libel case against his employer after it claimed that he had made inappropriate advances to a female colleague.

Donal Kinsella sued Kenmare Resources, a mining company based in Dublin, following a press release the firm issued claiming that when on an African business trip in 2007, he had made the advances. Kenmare issued the statement in an attempt to justify its decision to ask Mr Kinsella to step down from his job as chairman of its audit committee. In it they said that “something juicy” had taken place on the business trip, strongly suggesting that his conduct had been inappropriate.

The allegations were that Kinsella had been sleepwalking naked and went to the bedroom door of the firm’s secretary Deidre Corcoran three times, but each time was told to go back to his own bed. The jury at Ireland’s supreme court heard that Kinsella had been drinking and had taken painkillers. However solicitors for the company, after investigating the incident, found that Kinsella had made no attempt to enter Miss Corcoran’s bedroom and there was no evidence of improper conduct.

The supreme court awarded Mr Kinsella €10m in damages, an amount five times bigger than any previous libel case in Ireland. Kenmare Resources has said that it will appeal.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/nov/18/naked-sleepwalker-record-libel-payout

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