Judges leave Equity with £1/2m headache
Wednesday 16 January 2013
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EmailPerformance union Equity said today it would stay in business despite facing a half a million pound bill for a court case it won.
The union funded a four-year legal action on behalf of three members in Motown covers group the Gillettes who were defamed by a booking agency on its website.
In a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, the High Court ruled that the Gillettes had been libelled.
But after it was found that one of the group had lied in court they were awarded only nominal damages and ordered to pay 75 per cent of defendant 1311 Events's costs.
Equity's now worried that bill could go up to £500,000, leaving it with a 2012 deficit of around £176,000.
But assistant general secretary Martin Brown told the Star that it is not "going to break" the union and there will be no reduction in service to members and no reduction in staff.
He stressed that Equity has been in surplus since 2005 - when it had a major office refurb.
Some of the costs have been forked out but the total amount will not be known for a while.
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