Following a 5-day trial last month, the judgment of the High Court has been released in the case of Gina Mok v The Lansdowne Club.
Bates Wells (Leticia Jennings and Katy Sawyer) and David Reade KC acted for the Lansdowne Club throughout, and Mr Justice Ritchie has dismissed Gina Mok’s claim in its entirety. The judge found Ms Mok’s evidence to be “factually incorrect” and referred to her “time consuming and wide ranging, conspiracy theory fuelled complaints”. The judge rejected Ms Mok’s “unfounded assertions of conspiracies, coverups and of discrimination”.
Despite recent press reports, this case was not about bullying or discrimination. It was about Gina Mok breaking the law by breaching Covid rules. The judge found that Ms Mok broke the law on two separate occasions and did so knowingly and intentionally on one. The judge found Ms Mok to be “unrepentant” and that the Lansdowne Club had acted appropriately:-
“Committing crimes on Club premises is, in my judgment, a matter of high seriousness, particularly Covid related crime at a time when the whole country was worried and it was not disproportionate for the Council to consider its power to request resignation or to determine that expulsion was the correct sanction.”
The Club’s CEO, David Herbert, commented “We were always confident that we had acted appropriately. We were disappointed with Ms Mok’s multiple fabrications and are pleased to have successfully defended her spurious claim.”
Leticia Jennings commented “As well as decisively seeing off Ms Mok’s claim, the judgment contains a thorough analysis of the rules of natural justice and how social clubs are entitled to operate.”