The judge described the professor as having "an apparent inability to accept defeat"
The UK High Court has granted a request for an extended civil restraint order (ECRO) against former University of Warwick law professor Theodora Kostakopoulou over a litany of lawsuits she filed against the university and others, reported the Law Society Gazette.
Kostakopoulou joined the university in 2012 and was subject to disciplinary proceedings in 2016, which resulted in a written warning. In June 2017, she filed an employment tribunal claim against the University of Warwick and others, citing detriment due to whistleblowing and other protected acts, race and sex discrimination, and human rights and EU law violations.
The initial claims failed, and in December 2019 she faced additional disciplinary proceedings. She filed a second claim to the tribunal, this time over the infliction of detriment as a result of protected acts under the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Rights Act 1996.
A third claim was filed in August 2020, after Kostakopoulou was terminated by the university on July 29, 2020. She also lodged a libel and malicious falsehood claim in High Court against the university and others – a claim shot down by Sir Andrew Nicol in December 2021. Nicol ordered Kostakopoulou to pay costs.
The defendants applied for an ECRO to shield them from further claims by Kostakopoulou.
On Wednesday, High Court Justice Charles Gregory Bourne dismissed Kostakopoulou’s attempt to get the court to withdraw parts of Nicol’s order on claims that his ruling was made fraudulently. Bourne also granted the defendants’ ECRO request on the grounds that the threshold for such an order had been met.
“Looking at her litigious activity in the round, it is characterised by her profound sense of grievance and an apparent inability to accept defeat,” Bourne said in a statement published by the Gazette. “Her repeated contentions that her opponents have committed fraud, or that their lawyers have committed professional misconduct, or that judges have acted with bias and in breach of their judicial oath, are all clear indications of persistent and vexatious litigation.”
He added that Kostakopoulou had “grossly misused the procedures of the courts and tribunals” in her disputes.
“She refuses to recognise that fact and seems to assert a right to continue in the same vein. I conclude that there is a serious threat that that conduct will continue,” Bourne said.
