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ofjcihenHNSource author
Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

A Statement I am a Scala developer and speaker who was cancelled three years ago

A Statement I am a Scala developer and speaker who was cancelled three years ago. Yesterday I attended the High Court in London to hear an apology from several prominent members of the Scala community for making untrue claims about me on 27 April 2021. I sued them for libel, and they admitted fault and settled, paying me costs and damages. Their allegations were sensational and squalid, but unfounded. Their source was the resentment of one woman following a relationship in 2018, which I ended against her wishes. She fabricated or was offered an alternative narrative, which developed into claims of a pattern of behaviour, and culminated in the defendants' publication of an open letter, which they now agree is defamatory. In two years of legal action, the defendants never presented any evidence to support their allegations, and admitted in court that they had no proper reason to make them. They have given undertakings to the court not to publish further or similar defamatory statements, or have anyone else do so on their behalf. …

Original discussionThe untold impact of cancellation479 source comments · at import
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OldfieldFundHN

can you tell us? Twitter is difficult to navigate.

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stickfigureHN

Thankfully someone posted a link to the document: https://pretty.direct/consentorder.pdf The apology came from four people who signed the Open Letter who live in a special jurisdiction (the UK) where the burden of proof for libel is on the defense. The costs and damages were £20,000. This exposes the narrator as unreliable. When I first read his paragraph, I read it as implying that a court judged the veracity of the women's claims. The words seem deliberately constructed to provide that impression. In fact the court judgement is merely an acknowledgement that the UK defenders can't possibly prove the truth of the accusations and therefore they fold. Whether or not you prefer the UK system or the US system (which requires the plaintiff to prove falsehood), there's no vindication here. I feel lied to.

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HDThoreaunHN

Pretty absolutely made it sound like the case was against his accusers in his post. IMO this settlement proves nothing other than that libel laws in the uk are insane.

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