Advising a school in relation to a threatened defamation claim made by a parent

We were instructed by the client, a primary school, in relation to a defamation claim threatened by the parent (the Dad) of a student, due to complaints made against him to a government body after a serious incident took place at the school.

The parent also made serious accusations that he was being targeted by our client because of racial prejudice and threatened to report our client to the Department for Education and the media.

We took immediate action by sending a robust letter of response / cease and desist letter to the parent, explaining why there was no defamation in fact or in law, and that our client’s reports to the governing body were truthful and necessary. Our client also strongly denied any accusations of racial prejudice being the basis for their comments.

Our letter of response / cease and desist letter resolved matters at an early pre-action stage without the parent reporting our client to the Department for Education or the media as threatened.