Researcher wins €50,000 in damages as European Anti-Fraud Office removes ‘unlawful’ press release
EU court rules that inaccurate allegations of grant misuse damaged the researcher’s reputation, career and health
The European Commission has been ordered to pay damages and court costs to a researcher after its European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) published defamatory statements about her five years ago. Olaf has now removed a press release that was published in May 2020 from its website, while a European court has ruled that it contained distortions and inaccuracies.
On 1 October, the European General Court ruled in favour of an unnamed academic working in Greece who had filed the complaint. ‘Consequently, the applicant has established the existence of damage linked to her state of health arising from the sufficiently serious breaches of EU law that Olaf committed by publishing the press release at issue,’ the ruling reads.