Clockwise from the sword-wielding hamster in a microwave: Judge Leung, Mariani, Baccanello.
A judge has revoked the anonymity of a lawyer who sued her former colleague for sexual misconduct, after discovering that she hid material facts about the relationship from the court.
Stefano Mariani was sacked by Baker McKenzie when a junior lawyer identified only as ‘X’ claimed that he coercively controlled and sexually assaulted her while they both worked at Deacons, a Hong Kong law firm where he was a partner and head of tax. She also successfully argued that she should remain anonymous.
X claimed that Mariani invited her to his home on the pretext of showing off his collection of Japanese swords and then sexually assaulted her. He also boasted that he had once microwaved a hamster, she said.
But a judge has now lifted the anonymity order in a judgment which heavily criticised the foundations of her claim. Judge Harold Leung discovered that at the original hearing Jennifer Baccanello had only disclosed 50% of the WhatsApp messages exchanged with Mariani, and that the complete record painted a more favourable picture of him.
When he saw the missing texts, the judge said that they “appear to show that this was simply a romantic affair, entered into freely and consensually, and it ended by mutual agreement because of various factors (including perhaps a mismatch of expected level of commitments)”.
“Importantly, at least on the face of these records, I find no obvious evidence of any accusation of improper conduct of any description by either party”, he said.
Judge Leung, a former Mayer Brown partner, also discovered that when the relationship ended Baccanello had sent anonymous emails to at least two firms and a chambers containing statements which Mariani’s lawyers said were untrue, and that Mariani had threatened her with defamation proceedings for sending them.
Both “hugely relevant material matters” should have been disclosed by Baccanello in her application for anonymity, said the judge, describing the lapse as “a very serious material non-disclosure” which prevented the court from understanding “that this was not a simple and straightforward sexual harassment claim”.
He said that “one might find merit” in the argument that she “hijacked" the court "as a means to further publicise her allegations” while “hiding behind the shield of anonymity”.
In another instance of “highly selective disclosure,” Baccanello only quoted the section of a meeting note at Deacons which stated that Mariani “was reprimanded and…promised to never do this again”, leaving out the part which stated that “based on the information available, there were insufficient evidence or grounds to support the claim for sexual harassment”.
“The very least that [Baccanello] should have done was to draw the court’s attention to these passages”, said the judge.
He said he saw “some force” in Mariani’s lawyer’s argument that “this went beyond a simple failure of material non-disclosure, but was a deliberate attempt to mislead the court”.
The judge poured scorn on Baccanello's attempt to cite her mental health as a reason to maintain her anonymity, noting that her doctor was "not a medical doctor" but "a counsellor with a BA in Psychology”, and that Baccanello had only taken one counselling session and "attempted ‘art therapy’.”
He also rubbished her claims to be suicidal, on the basis that she spent nine months seeking funding for a private psychiatrist, and rejected her argument that she would be publicly shamed as a result of the HPV infection she allegedly contracted from Mariani, telling her that the social stigma "should be relatively small”.
Mariani said in a press release, “I am satisfied with the Judge’s Decision and Ms Baccanello’s subsequent discontinuation of her wholly baseless action against me. I now want to focus on restoring my personal and professional reputation following this untrue and malicious attack. I am most grateful to the many clients, fellow professionals in the legal and accounting industries, and friends who have unreservedly supported me during the past year and look forward to further developing my tax and trusts practice as a sole practitioner”.
Mariani said he had commenced defamation proceedings against Baccanello and her husband, who is understood to be a lawyer, in relation to the anonymous emails she sent out.
Alfred Ip, whose firm Hugill & Ip acts for Baccanello, told RollOnFriday, “It was never our client's intention to submit herself or Mr. Mariani to the court of public opinion. She believes in the truth and the legal system to bring this to light”.
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Comments
41
174
Who wants to #beleivewomen now, eh?
Nobody's going to call me a crank this week, are they?
Who wants to be first to apologise to me?
67
152
Unfortunately false allegations are extremely common in this type of case.
158
50
Yo! Time to pump some fat beats like they're an old bike tyre! This one goes out to my man Mariani:
Innocent like Beckwith! Innocent like Lester!
Unequivocal proof that he didn't molest her!
A finding of fact beyond all construing,
yet another man cleared of all wrongdoing,
stitched up by lies and disclosure fraud,
now he's put these feminists to the (samurai) sword!
Freed to speak his truth after a lengthy purdah,
his one and only crime is hamster murder,
which is a minor mistake not worthy of aspersion,
the important thing is there was no sex coercion!
All hail Mariani tax boss of Hong Kong,
it's all above board what he does with his schlong!
Brrrrrap!
16
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@9.13 - no apology needed, it was always the case that the questions were necessary given the prevalence of false allegations in these matters. The people trying to shut down the questions were proved wrong every single time.
112
13
Deacons and Baker both conducted internal investigations. SM was fired for more than just one reason. I believe more details will be released during the deformation proceedings.
92
28
A real gentleman will never be sued by a female colleague in such way. It is not likely the story just ends up here.
12
91
@Deacons Insider - what details, and were these internal investigations based on half the information? It won’t change the findings referred to in the article though.
40
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"I believe more details will be released during the deformation proceedings." [sic]
Calm down, there's no need to get all bent out of shape about it.
90
13
"I now want to focus on restoring my personal and professional reputation following this untrue and malicious attack."
wish you good luck 😆 we all knew there were sth wrong with you long time ago.
13
77
@HK businessman - A man who never eats pork bun, is never a whole man.
85
3
HKU students are still missing in the story. We want more!
70
12
@ Anonymous “A man who never eats pork bun, is never a whole man.”
be careful. you are against the Muslims.
85
4
Save the hamster!
11
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@Hk businessman - remember, people are sued very often without merit.
8
73
Sometimes it is much better to apply logic rather than emotions particularly if you are a lawyer and to avoid malice and spite.
90
7
But did he microwave a hamster?
65
6
@Maggie May
"Sometimes it is much better to apply logic rather than emotions particularly if you are a lawyer and to avoid malice and spite."
did SM have logic?
97
18
Fortunately, false allegations are extremely uncommon in this type of case.
69
9
well, we knew SM very early back in London. He was very "outspoken", sometimes too "outspoken" ...
13
90
@09.43 - your singing doesn't change the fact that the accusation was false and that false allegations are extremely common on these type of matters.
10
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@12.20 - SM isn't the one making false allegations though, remember.
78
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Maliciously false allegations should be punishable with the same or near-same punishment as proven allegations!
64
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Baccanello only quoted the section of a meeting note at Deacons which stated that Mariani “was reprimanded and…promised to never do this again”, leaving out the part which stated that “based on the information available, there were insufficient evidence or grounds to support the claim for sexual harassment”.
As far as I know, the note was just one page. And the judge blamed her not quote it well. Did the judge really spend time reading it?
10
91
@12.29 - that is a false allegation. Unfortunately false allegations are very common in this type of case.
66
8
Most likely the judge rushed to grant her the anonymity order (AO). She definitely would not start the claim if AO was not granted. Then the judge felt embarrassed to know he didn't read the documents well. To make it up, he just picked some technical errors in her application to remove the AO. Can we say the judge actually ruined both sides?
63
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Don't forget she is a lawyer herself. Her legal team is also reputable. They certainly knew the consequence of material non-disclosure in an AO application. I just hope every judge read documents carefully before making a decision.
20
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When you say “technical errors in her application”, Deacons Insider, you mean the “lying to the court and misleading it about the nature of their relationship” and “deliberately withholding information that showed her allegations were not true”?
And as a lawyer herself, no less?
56
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@struandirk 07
To make it fair, the Judge said in his judgement of the AO "This is not a mini-trial" but his decision to remove the AO and his reasons. The cross-examination is important to tell the truth during the trial. We can focus on that in the following defamation proceedings.
83
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@anon 07 June 24 12:29: correct. False allegations in this type of case are very uncommon.
11
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@15.57 - that is a false allegation. Unfortunately false allegations are very common in this type of case.
84
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@anon 07 June 24 15:57: absolutely spot on.
90
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It is just a relief that false allegations in these sort of cases are extremely rare.
54
9
Wasn’t a BLM managing partner sacked after a romantic mishap?
16
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Deacons insider
Hardly "technical errors".
The judge ordered indemnity costs against her when the standard order in SDO cases is each party bears their own costs..
That, more than anything, sums up what's going on. That and the fact that she has withdrawn the original claim totally and has to bear his costs as a result.
All men need to be aware of a woman scorned!
12
58
unless you are Gary Senior you will be sacked by B&M without further proof. Luckily there are better places to work
26
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@16.41 - I'm not following you. Is it that it's commonly known that they're uncommon, or that it's uncommon for them to be commonplace? Or do they not have anything in common at all?
9
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@18.05 - ugh! Better get some cream for that spot!
39
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@Anon
All men need to be aware of a woman scorned!
Using the term of "scorned woman" in 2024 can only tell you are a sexist.
32
9
Let me guess - at the start is was "Believe all women!!!"
45
8
SM's acquaintances in London have been mocking him with Rurik Jutting case for years. Luckily only a hamster was murdered, not a woman.
51
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"I am most grateful to the many clients, fellow professionals in the legal and accounting industries"
What a joke 🤣 SM's classy comments about females and partners are well circulated among the chambers in HK. He thinks some press releases and a defamation case would change his fate😜 one point for Ms X!
10
63
@18.51 - that is a false allegation. Unfortunately false allegations are very common in this type of case.
48
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Deacons updated its interal policy after the departure of SM. The new clauses like:
1. coercive and manipulative relationships are forbidden.
2. any relationship involved with a partner must be reported to the firm.
46
6
This reminds me Bruce Lehrmann case. "Having escaped the lion's den Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat," Justice Lee said of his decision to launch defamation proceedings against Network 10 and presenter Lisa Wilkinson. Stefano Mariani is simply repeating it with his defamation proceedings.
10
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@[email protected] - what romantic mishap?
42
5
SM, who is two faced with an agenda?
42
8
Why didn't Mariani disclose the missing texts?
10
53
This is incredibly sad. There are so many women that have genuinely been sexually assaulted and are too afraid to come fforward and rreport it because of people like this claimant. It casts doubts on every genuine victim.
48
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SM's tactics is using the press release and the defamation case to clean his name. He managed to disclose her identity. However, his reputation of being haamsap (鹹濕) was already known within Deacons even before this case. The press release and the defamation case only draws more public attention and further exposes him.
43
11
@Anonymous "@Deacons Insider - what details, and were these internal investigations based on half the information? It won’t change the findings referred to in the article though."
An internal investigation is not likely just listening to one side of the story, otherwise any angry employee could complain his/her supervisor to the firm to sack the supervisor. Mr Mariani must have been requested to provide his explanation and evidence. Both Deacons and Baker made their decision based on their own understanding of the facts.
42
6
Thank goodness that false allegations in these sort of cases are extremely rare.
43
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anon 07 June 24 12:29 - yes and what a relief!
4
38
@Common Sense - its commonly known that they're common.
28
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@London Solicitor - and those acquaintances turned out to be wrong and now owe him an apology.
27
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@Anonymous
"SM, who is two faced with an agenda?"
neither the one weighted 100 kg, nor the one only 40 kg dripping wet
7
29
This was fishy from the very beginning. Her statement of claim was leaked to the public in an attempt to destroy his reputation before any trial took place. These expats are too wild
11
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@[email protected] - what 'classy comments'?
7
28
A lot of people commenting on the original article back in October 2023 are now being left not so much with egg on their faces, but an entire omelette!
32
2
10 out of 10 to ROF for the homemade hamster photoshop!!
33
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@ anoneeemooos may be too juicy to disclose to the public, only suitable for the eyes of the judge
38
3
We just need to remember that false accusations in cases like this are extremely rare. Phew!
5
41
@[email protected] - that is a false allegation. Unfortunately false allegations are very common in this type of case.
3
30
@[email protected] - what is?
40
2
The only consolation is that, in cases such as this, false accusations are very rare.
33
4
anon 07 June 24 12:29 - correct.
28
4
If she signed a note with Deacons that no harassment had happened, why did Deacons still force him to go but keep her? Something is missing here.
4
30
So many comments, it all gets very hard to follow.
IS the general consensus that this upstanding chap has been cleared of all wrongdoing by the BSB?
6
8
@[email protected] -?
38
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Anonymous 11 June 24 14:20: my “chap” was always “upstanding” when non-consensual sexual encounters presented themselves!
4
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@Deacons Isnider @[email protected] - they'll be regretting their mistake now in rushing to judgement.
4
30
@TOM - the judge would disagree with you.
6
27
@[email protected] - what agenda?
4
33
@[email protected] - because he wasn't the one making the allegations. The onus is on the person doing the accusing to make disclosure, not to only disclose half the information.
4
35
@[email protected] - we disagree, and so did the judge!
5
37
@re - a lot of assumptions there, and the judge disagrees with most of them.
4
17
@[email protected] - so not verifiable then?
24
4
Consent is overrated!
3
19
@[email protected] - that is a false allegation. Unfortunately false allegations are very common in this type of case.
28
5
Companies can fire someone for unethical behaviors, which are not necessarily illegal behaviors at the same time. And now HK is not in lack of tax lawyers who can only speak English. For business perspectives, the decisions made by Deacons and BM were reasonable.
5
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@[email protected] - that is a false allegation. Unfortunately false allegations are very common in this type of case.
4
23
@[email protected] - I don't think anything is missing here. I think there was a rush to judgement, as we can see from the comments, even when the allegations are false some people will still insist that they are true.
4
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@[email protected] - yes.
3
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Unfortunately false accusations in this type of matter are all too common.