Cape Wind has announced it has accepted a settlement offer from John Donelan of US$ 15,000 to resolve a defamation lawsuit filed against him for a fraudulent act he committed while Technical and Research Director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. The Settlement Agreement followed Judge Allan van Gestel’s Order in November, 2005.
Cape Wind v. John Donelan Lawsuit
The lawsuit began when John Donelan sent a false press release to State House Newswire Service in January, 2004 that sought to smear Cape Wind. The false press release was made to appear to be from a local company “announcing” it would not do business with Cape Wind. In an article that appeared on January 31, 2004 in the Cape Cod Times, Ernie Corrigan, spokesman for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound denied anyone at the Alliance was involved: “Our opposition to this project is passionate and deeply-felt, but we would never stoop to any tactics such as this.” Cape Wind retained Kroll Security to conduct an investigation and, with the assistance of two court orders, the investigation traced the fraudulent press release to a computer at the home of the Research and Technical Director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, John Donelan. Cape Wind President Jim Gordon announced that he would donate the $15,000 settlement to Project Prevention.
The lawsuit began when John Donelan sent a false press release to State House Newswire Service in January, 2004 that sought to smear Cape Wind. The false press release was made to appear to be from a local company “announcing” it would not do business with Cape Wind. In an article that appeared on January 31, 2004 in the Cape Cod Times, Ernie Corrigan, spokesman for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound denied anyone at the Alliance was involved: “Our opposition to this project is passionate and deeply-felt, but we would never stoop to any tactics such as this.” Cape Wind retained Kroll Security to conduct an investigation and, with the assistance of two court orders, the investigation traced the fraudulent press release to a computer at the home of the Research and Technical Director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, John Donelan. Cape Wind President Jim Gordon announced that he would donate the $15,000 settlement to Project Prevention.
