A group of disgruntled News Corp shareholders have begun legal moves to win permission to hold Rupert Murdoch and his son James personally responsible for the phone hacking scandal.
They include America’s Amalgamated Bank and the Central Laborers Pension Fund, both of which made representations to a Delaware Court in a bid to allow them to sue, forcing the family to reimburse News Corp for losses incurred under their watch.
The group hope that by targeting directors they will be able to force the Murdoch clan to answer claims that they were personally responsible for illegal journalistic practices, rather than under the corporate News Corp umbrella.
It is alleged that the Murdochs ignored warnings of illegal activity and treated the firm as a ‘family candy jar’.
For their part the directors are requesting that the judge dismiss the case on the grounds that the proper steps were not taken in filing it and too much time had elapsed since the scandal broke.
It is thought unlikely that they will be successful however.
The Murdochs travails Stateside follow confirmation from Britain’s media regulator Ofcom that James Murdoch’s actions as Sky chairman ‘fell short’ of the conduct expected.
Write Your Comment