Dr Rachel Polonsky wins apology and damages from the Guardian
15 February 2008
Download a PDF of the Statement in Open Court
Dr Rachel Polonsky, independent writer and scholar, today settled her libel action against Guardian News Group, the publishers of the Guardian, for an article published in the Guardian on 22 October 2007. The article alleged that Dr Polonsky’s review of ‘Natasha’s Dance’, published in the Times Literary Supplement in 2002, had been motivated by some sort of personal grudge or professional envy against Professor Orlando Figes, the author of ‘Natasha’s Dance’, and that Dr Polonsky is a “frustrated academic” who cannot live with Professor Figes’ success.
The Guardian acknowledged that they misquoted Professor Figes’ comments about the Claimant, are happy to make clear that the Claimant has never been a student of Professor Figes nor has she ever asked him for a reference, and that they should never have linked Professor Figes’ remarks about frustrated academics to the Claimant of whom they would be entirely false, and the implication that a review of his book in the TLS was motivated by a personal grudge or professional envy or anything other than scholarly concern is without foundation.
The Guardian apologised to Dr Polonsky for any embarrassment or distress caused and has paid undisclosed damages and her reasonable legal costs.
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