Sun features boss sues News Group over sacking
Matt Nixson, former head of features for the Sun, is suing News Group Newspapers, and four people are investigating the phone hacking scandal for News Corp., for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract, says the Guardian.
The Sun masthead
Nixson was fired from the Sun last summer over allegations of “serious misconduct” during his time as deputy features editor of News of the World, where he worked from 2005 to 2010. In documents filed at the High court in London, Nixson says he wasn’t involved in any illegal activity at the News of the World - and that his innocence would have been proved by a full disciplinary hearing.
He also argues that News Corp's"independent management and standards committee" doesn’t have the power to fire News Group employees.
Nixson is seeking more than £100,000 in damages. The lawsuit targets News Corp. executives Will Lewis and Simon Greenberg, the corporation’s chief lawyer Jeffrey Palker, and the independent chairman of its management and standards committee, Lord Grabiner.
He says he will have trouble finding a new job “given the stigma attached to his dismissal and the imputation that he was involved in or otherwise associated with the phone hacking activities or other criminal newsgathering activities of the News of the World.
In September, the Metropolitan police said that Nixson would not be arrested or questioned in the hacking enquiries.