GMIT will not discipline two staff guilty of email libel

Date Published: 17-May-2010

By Darragh McDonagh

Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) has said that it will not be taking any disciplinary action against two staff members who circulated defamatory emails that resulted in a High Court apology and damages last week.

Terry Casey, a lecturer in Marketing at GMIT, took the libel case in respect of defamatory material circulated in an email by two of his colleagues in the School of Business at the college.

The action was settled before the High Court on Friday when the defendants issued an unreserved apology and agreed to pay a sum in damages and costs, which is understood to amount to six figures.

The landmark case is believed to be among the first civil libel actions taken in relation to material contained in an electronic mail.

However, a spokesperson for GMIT said that there was no question of disciplinary action arising from the matter because the two staff members were not the authors of the libellous material.

“GMIT wishes to clarify that the defamatory comments were not written by either Larry Elwood or Deirdre Lusby but were contained in a student survey which was circulated by email to other staff members in error,” she said.

Mr Casey, from Barna, said that he was he was greatly relieved that the ordeal had reached its conclusion after almost five and a half years.

“It’s been a terrible experience which has lasted five years and four months and I just want to put it behind me now,” he said. “I have had to go to work each day with it hanging over me and it has been difficult to concentrate.

“It has been extremely difficult to work closely with the two people involved and it has been hugely stressful, but I’m looking to the future now and I’m determined to continue. I love lecturing, I like the academic world and I love my work,” he said.

Mr Casey said that he had been delighted by the reception afforded to him at the college since he returned to work following the High Court proceedings.

“It was my first day back to work yesterday and I was touched by the level of support that I received from students and staff, who have emailed me or come up to me to shake my hand,” he said.

The action was taken in respect of an email which was circulated by the Head of the School of Business at the college Larry Elwood in January 2005. It was sent to 47 of Mr Casey’s colleagues and was subsequently forwarded to more colleagues by Head of the Business Studies Department Deirdre Lusby.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel