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Dubai: A beauty and cosmetics group is suing an Arabic newspaper for more than Dh1 million after it published a "false article" which reportedly led to its closure.
The owner of the group claimed in the civil lawsuit, that the newspaper article accused the beauty and cosmetics group of failing to pay the salaries of tens of models who were hired to participate in a beauty festival.
According to the lawsuit, the claimant described the article as "wrong, inaccurate, unprofessional and unethical" and accused the writer and the newspaper of defaming the group as well.
The claimant alleged that their business stopped and the group went bankrupt because their customers stopped dealing with them after reading the article.
The plaintiff asked the Dubai Civil Court, which held its first hearing yesterday, to assign an expert who will assess the exact financial, moral and emotional damages which the group accrued following the publication of the article.
The article spoke about tens of models protesting against the non-payment of their salaries in front of the beauty salon, which belongs to the group. The reporter quoted a number of models alleging they were hired to model in a beauty festival in one of Dubai's elite hotels. The models were also quoted saying that the group did not pay them their salaries and some of them had come especially to Dubai to participate in the festival.
The plaintiff mentioned in the lawsuit that the newspaper also used a picture which showed the salon's name in full and a number of models protesting.
However, the last paragraph in the article (a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News) quoted the group's financial official as saying: "There was no problem... each model will collect her dues... a protest does not solve the matter."
The plaintiff accused the newspaper of violating the UAE's Publication Law and libelling the group. The claimant also asked the court to order the newspaper to publish a reprint and a correction.
The article spoke about tens of models protesting against the non-payment of their salaries in front of the beauty salon.
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