Law student takes High Court action against solicitor claiming emotional distress

High Court reporters

A law student is seeking a High Court injunction restraining a solicitor she has made a complaint against to the Workplace Relations Commission from allegedly harassing and intimidating her.

The action has been brought by Sumaia Samanta, who is seeking an injunction restraining Dublin-based solicitor Imtiaz Khan, practising under the style and title of IMK Solicitors, from deliberately and punitively harassing, intimidating her and causing her intentional emotional distress.

She also wants the court to apply the terms of injunction to alleged agent, associate of, or person acting on Mr Khan's befall.

Represented by David O'Brien BL, instructed by RNL Solicitors, Ms Samanta says she holds a law degree from Bangladesh and is currently studying at the Law Society of Ireland with a view to qualifying as a solicitor.

She claims she approached the defendant, who is based in Mountjoy Square in Dublin, in late 2022 seeking advice on becoming a solicitor.

In her affidavit to the court, she claims that on learning she is from Bangladesh, Mr Khan offered her a job where she would help bring in more Bangladeshi clients to the defendant's firm.

The plaintiff, with an address in Leixlip, Co Kildare, says her role included promoting the firm via her social media pages and YouTube channel to members of Ireland's Bangladeshi community.

She says she was to be paid commission for every new client she brought into the firm, that her travel expenses would be paid, and that she would be given a written contract of employment.

She claims that despite bringing in clients to the firm she was never paid, nor provided with a written contact and, as a result, made a complaint to the WRC about Mr Khan.

'Malicious campaign'

Since making the complaint she claims that she has subjected to a malicious campaign of intimidation and harassment, which she says is "designed to pressure me into withdrawing my WRC claim against him".

She said that last December she was instructed to attend the firm's Christmas party and take pictures of those in attendance at the event. Images and videos she said were post on the firm's social media.

However, shortly afterwards she claims she was told by a person at the law firm, whom she did not know, to take down the images and videos, which she did.

Shortly afterwards she was informed by email that her employment at the firm had been terminated.

She believes that she was "teed up for a sanction" so the defendant's firm could avoid making the payments he owed her.

She claims that earlier this year, after she filed her complaint with the WRC, she received a letter on behalf of the defendant threatening to sue her.

The letter demanded that she pay €26,000 or €2,000 to each of some 13 persons whose data rights were allegedly breached over posts and images she had allegedly posted on social media.

She claims her health has suffered and said the allegations made against her have been "soul-destroying".

She said she was fearful for her career prospects in Ireland if that action was brought against her and, at one stage she did withdraw her claim to the WRC before reinstating it.

Ms Samanta said her solicitor wrote to the defendant seeking to find the identities of the 13 persons who rights were alleged to have been breached by the plaintiff, to see if the defendant does indeed act for them. She claims that no response has been furnished to that request.

No issue

In addition, her solicitor contacted an individual who attended the Christmas party to see if they had made a complaint against the plaintiff over post images taken at that event.

Her solicitor was informed that several persons individual at the party had no issue with the plaintiff and had not instructed the defendant to take proceedings on their behalf over the posts.

She and her solicitor, who has called on the defendant to withdraw the threat to sue her over alleged data breaches, says the letter from the defendant was another attempt to make her withdraw the complaint to the WRC.

Matters were escalated in recent days as she claims she received several calls from an associate of the defendants stating he and his wife would sue Ms Samanta for defamation with the assistance of the defendant's firm.

The associate, who she said is acting in concert with Mr Khan, stated that he and defendant would "make my life hell".

As a result of the defendant's alleged actions, she has come before the court seeking various orders including an injunction and damages against Mr Khan.

Her injunction application came before Mr Justice Brian O'Moore on Thursday afternoon.

The judge, who remarked that the case has some unusual features, said he was not prepared to make any temporary orders against the defendant on an ex-parte basis without hearing from the defendant.

The judge said he was prepared to grant the plaintiff permission to serve short notice of the injunction application and adjourned the matter to Monday's sitting of the High Court.