Man fined Dhs15,000 for defaming company

ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court obligated a man to pay Dhs15,000 to a company in compensation for the damage he caused to its market reputation, after he filmed a video insulting the company and uploaded it on a social media platform.

The details of the case date back to the time when the company filed a lawsuit against two young men in which it requested that they be jointly obligated to pay Dhs150,000 in compensation for the material and moral damage it incurred, in addition to paying the fees and expenses of the lawsuit.

The appellant company said that in October 2019, the second appellee filmed a video clip in which the first appeared holding a bottle of water belonging to the company and saying obscene words about the company.

He reportedly uploaded the clip on a social media platform.

The company added that the Criminal Court had convicted and punished them with community service for two weeks.

The court explained that the case papers proved that the two appellees did not appeal against the criminal ruling which convicted them, and therefore it became final, adding that when the company’s lawyer registered the lawsuit more than three years after the criminal court’s ruling without legal reason, then the company’s right to claim compensation had expired.

The court consequently rejected the case against the first appellee.

As for the second, the court indicated that his mistake against the company was proved, based on the criminal ruling, and that he caused it material and moral damage, so it fined him Dhs15,000, in compensation for all damages.