#MeToo case: Mystery businessman battles newspaper over harassment, abuse story

A year after the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and the rise of #MeToo awareness, a major case is in the courts in Britain. Photo / AP

For eight months, reporters at the Daily Telegraph worked on an explosive #MeToo story about a well-known businessman accused of sexual harassment and racial abuse.

This week, one of the top judges in England and Wales ruled that the paper could not reveal the name of the alleged perpetrator or the companies he worked for, at least for the moment.

In granting the temporary injunction, the judge, Sir Terence Etherton, ruled that the businessman was protected because at least five of his alleged victims had signed nondisclosure agreements and received "substantial" payouts.

Publishing the allegations would amount to a breach of those deals, the judge wrote.

The alleged perpetrator must be given an opportunity, the judge wrote, to show why his anonymity should be protected.

"There is a real prospect that publication by the Telegraph will cause immediate, substantial and possibly irreversible harm to all of the Claimants," Etherton wrote in an opinion.

The Telegraph argued that the ruling was unfair because the newspaper did not have an agreement with the businessman in question.

Its lawyers argued that there was a "clear public interest" in publishing the findings, "not least to alert those who might be applying to work for him."

According to the Telegraph, the businessman spent upward of US$600,000 in fees for seven lawyers to fight publication of the piece.

A “leading businessman” has been granted an injunction to prevent the Daily Telegraph publishing allegations of “discreditable conduct”. These are the legal terms explained.https://t.co/bfFrTQIqyq

— i newspaper (@theipaper) October 24, 2018

The Telegraph filled its front page with a story about the story. "The British #MeToo scandal which cannot be revealed," the headline read.

"The accusations against the businessman, who cannot be identified, would be sure to reignite the #MeToo movement against the mistreatment of women, minorities and others by powerful employers," the paper wrote in the article.

Critics say nondisclosure agreements are often used to silence critics and hide patterns of bad behaviour.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said that she would like to pass a law restricting the use of these kinds of agreements. Yesterday, Maria Miller, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee in the House of Commons, called the use of gag orders "shocking." NDAs should not be used "where there are accusations of sexual misconduct and wider bullying," Miller said.