Over PLN 50 million in compensation – this is the amount that the Axel Springer publishing house can pay for failing to comply with the terms of the settlement concluded in 2020 and damaging Robert Szustkowski’s good name.
A record financial claim
As Elżbieta Kosińska-Kozak from the Dubois i Wspólnicy law firm, acting as Robert Szustkowski’s attorney, explains, this summons is probably the largest financial compensation in Poland in a case concerning the protection of personal rights. It results from the fact that the press publishing house who damaged Szustkowski’s good name, fails to timely comply with the out-of-court settlement and the contractual penalty provided for in the said document.
Out-of-court settlement
The out-of-court settlement was signed in 2020 after the District Court in Warsaw issued a verdict favorable to Szustkowski. According to the judgment, the materials published by Ringier Axel Springer Polska contained false information that harmed the good name and dignity of the businessman.
Axel Springer delayed the implementation of the terms of the settlement
Pursuant to the court’s judgment (October 2020), the publisher in question was obliged to publish an apology and pay an appropriate amount for a social purpose. After the verdict was issued, Szustkowski signed an out-of-court settlement with Axel Springer. The document assumed that the publishing house would remove the consequences of violations of Szustkowski’s personal rights, as well as protect the businessman against further violations. Unfortunately, despite signing the settlement, the publishing house did not fulfill the conditions imposed on it, which prompted Robert Szustkowski to file a claim for compensation.