A 37-year-old male Hong Kong secondary school teacher won a defamation case on Thursday against the father of a former pupil who is now his girlfriend. The father wrote a malicious letter and distributed leaflets about the teacher after he moved to a new workplace in 2012.
Leung Chi-wang, the plaintiff, taught design and technology and computer science at Shun Tak Fraternal Association Seaward Woo College in Ho Man Tin between 2008 and 2010. The daughter of the defendant, Leung Yui-shing, attended the school between 2007 and 2013, HK01.com reported.
In 2010, the defendant filed a complaint to the school, claiming that the plaintiff had spent time alone with his then-14-year-old daughter. The father said his daughter must have been sexually assaulted.
The teacher’s contract was not renewed following the complaint, although no case was ever proven. He then started working at the HKSYC&IA Chan Nam Chong Memorial College in Kwai Chung. In June 2012, the principal of the college received a letter from the defendant, who said the plaintiff had showed “extraordinary care” to his daughter.
In September 2012, the defendant started distributing malicious leaflets about the plaintiff outside the college, claiming that a male teacher surnamed Leung had sexually assaulted female students.
In 2014, the plaintiff filed a writ against the defendant for defamation. On Thursday, the District Court ordered the defendant to pay the teacher HK$180,000 in compensation, Sing Tao Daily reported. It also urged the father to reconcile with his daughter.