ΥΠΕΡΑΣΠΙΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ, ΤΗ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΛΟΓΙΚΗΣ: Murdoch’s News Corp Could Face Class Action Suit

Δευτέρα 26 Σεπτεμβρίου 2011

Murdoch’s News Corp Could Face Class Action Suit

by Kristina C.
September 25, 2011
11:30 pm

5 comments Murdoch’s News Corp Could Face Class Action Suit

More damaging, and potentially damning, revelations emerged last week about the phone hacking scandal that brought down the 168-year-old British tabloid the News of the World last July. The Guardian reports that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation faces five court actions including one that potentially targets both him and his son James Murdoch. Allegations have also surfaced that News of the World staffers hacked the phone of reality TV star Jane Goody while she was dying of cancer in 2008

Neil Wallis, who had been the deputy editor of the News of the World, had been secretly receiving £25,000 from News International, a British subsidiary of News Corp., for “crime exclusives” stories, at the same time as he was working as a PR consultant for Scotland Yard. Wallis allegedly received the payments in 2009 and 2010, apparently earning £10,000 for a story. One story that Wallis was paid for was regarding a suspected assassination attempt on the Pope during his visit last year to the UK.

Also on Friday, Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor, filed a suit against News International for breach of contract after the company informed his lawyers that it would no longer pay for his legal defense. As reported last month, Coulson had still been receiving payments from his former employer, News International, even after he had become Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communication and four years after he had left his position with the media company. Coulson resigned from his position with Cameron’s government in January and was arrested in July as reports emerged that, under his watch, the News of the World had hacked into the voicemail of murdered British schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

But it is not only in the UK that News Corp faces legal action. Mark Lewis, the lawyer representing Milly Dowler’s family and other victims of phone hacking, has instructed Norman Siegel, a New York lawyer representing families of 9/11 victims, ” to seek witness statements from News Corp and its directors, including Rupert and James Murdoch, in relation to allegations that News of the World staff may have bribed police.”

[Lewis] says he intends to assess whether he can launch a class action against News Corp using American foreign corruption laws, which make it illegal for US companies to pay bribes to government officials abroad.

“There is a provision within US law, before you start an action to seek depositions from individuals, in this case, such as James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch and other directors of News Corp,” said Lewis.

He added Siegel would examine allegations of not just police bribery but also phone hacking and “foreign malpractices.”

Siegel is advising a number of families of 9/11 victims regarding an ongoing FBI investigation about possible hacking of their phones

News Corp. has been trying to remain separate from the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed News International in the UK. Lewis’ actions represent a fresh challenge to the media giant and for the man behind it, Rupert Murdoch.

Previous Care2 Coverage

$3 Million?: Murdoch Offers Payment to Family in Hacking Case

Murdoch’s Fox News Cuts Phone Hacking Joke From Emmys

London Police: Guardian Must Reveal Sources

News Corp. Shareholders File Suit Against Murdochs

Photo of the final edition of the News of the World by Howard Lake

Hilary S.

2:45am PDT on Sep 26, 2011

is murdoch any worse than any other media crowd? i stopped trusting the lot of them ages ago.

Berny P.

2:04am PDT on Sep 26, 2011

SIGN THE PETITION...HOPEFULLY THEY WILL BE PROCECUTED..

PEOPLE...LIKE THE MEDIA...WHO HAVE NO MORALS...SHOULD PAY FOR THE HEART BREAK THAT THEY CAUSE...

0 % TOLERANCE