Courts / Cork / Report

Judge declines to strike out entirety of woman's defence

Summary

In a High Court case, Grant Thornton sued Gerardine Scanlan for allegedly keeping confidential data it had mistakenly sent to her in 2015. The firm had previously obtained an order preventing her from releasing the information and required her to return or destroy it. Scanlan had agreed to hand over the material in December 2015, but Grant Thornton claims she has not complied and still holds the data. The firm seeks orders to compel her to return the material and to disclose any third parties to whom she may have disclosed it. Scanlan, representing herself, denies breaching the order or retaining the data. Grant Thornton asked the court to strike out her defence and counterclaim, arguing they lacked legal basis. Judge Paul Gilligan struck out portions of her defence that did not deny Grant Thornton's allegations and were irrelevant, and dismissed her counterclaim except for a claim for damages under the Data Protection Acts.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Judge declines to strike out entirety of woman's defence. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• September 2015 Other
• December 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2017-07-29 Publication

Why: In his ruling, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said he was striking out portions of her defence on grounds including that they did not contain any denials of any matter pleaded by Grant Thornton and because they were not relevant to the claim. Defence account reported by CNI

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Related court reports

• Jail term upheld for man who set fire to family home
• "Whistleblower" tells High Court that accountancy firm made "fairly scandalous" comments
• Woman denies trying to "blackmail" accountancy firm over alleged data breach
• Court upholds sentence of mother-of-five jailed for aggravated burglary

Read the original CNI report