(Trinidad Express) A Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies cricketer is being sued by a woman with whom he had a one-time love affair after he electronically disseminated intimate photographs of her to several of his colleagues.
The breach of confidence lawsuit, which was filed against Lendl Simmons by account executive Therese Ho, came up for hearing before High Court judge Justice Frank Seepersad at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain yesterday for a case management conference for the judge to decide how the case should proceed.
On June 5, last year, Ho successfully had an injunction granted in her favour by Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh preventing Simmons from disseminating any further photographs or information about her.
However, that injunction hearing was held strictly in-camera, meaning the court proceedings could not have been made public.
With the matter now set to proceed to trial on March 23, it has now entered the public domain.
Legal sources said it is believed this is the first time such a lawsuit is to be determined by the local courts and that its outcome will set a new legal precedent when it comes to the dissemination of private information, including photographs and video recordings of individuals without their permission.
Ho is contending that by disseminating the photographs, Simmons has contravened the tort of breach of confidence which is a common law tort that protects confidential information that is conveyed to another in confidence.
Simmons, on the other hand, is arguing that he never shared a relationship with Ho and that his encounter with her was only a one-time affair, meaning he was not under a duty to owe her any confidentiality.
Representing Ho in the matter are attorneys Naveen Maraj and Christian Chandler, while Ken Wright is seeking the interest of Simmons.