Defamation: another rape-related lawsuit dropped

Beneath this dueling legal-action story is another story, but I don’t know it. The article — Michael Arrington Drops Suit After Rape Accuser Recants – NYTimes.com. — hints at what might have happened:

Last spring, Jennifer Allen began sharing a harrowing tale of abuse she said she had received at the hands of a former boyfriend — Michael Arrington, the tech investor and blogger.

In posts on Facebook, Twitter and the comments section of a news article on Valleywag, the tech gossip site, Ms. Allen accused Mr. Arrington of abusing and raping her. Her accusations generated a swell of media coverage, culminating in a Vanity Fair article.

Now Ms. Allen has taken back her accusations.

In a blog post on his site on Tuesday, Mr. Arrington said that he had dropped a defamation suit that he filed over a year ago against Ms. Allen after she agreed to retract her accusations against him and apologize. He posted a copy of a settlement agreement, signed by Ms. Allen, that says neither party paid the other any money as part of the agreement.

A settlement agreement without money? This suggests that Ms. Allen accused Mr. Arrington of rape, possibly hoping to get a settlement with money, but his defamation lawsuit against her changed her mind.

And take a look at that settlement agreement, which Mr. Arrington has posted on-line. It has no non-disparagement or non-disclosure clause. Indeed, Mr. Arrington has fully disclosed it, probably as a way of thoroughly embarrassing and discrediting Ms. Allen. Who clearly had bad legal advice to begin with.

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