Why is this ruling not only a huge blow to Bart De Bao, but also a rehabilitation of some women

The judge who had to rule in the dispute between Bart de Pauw and the VRT also takes into account the facts of the infringing conduct for which he was previously acquitted. The Civil Court considers that these facts are sufficiently proven. “This is an important appreciation for women who have been wrong before.”

Once again, Bart de Pauw covered his nose. The civil court in Brussels rejected his claim for damages to the VRT Act in all areas. Not only does the TV maker have to donate a symbolic euro to the VRT, but it also has to pay tens of thousands of euros in legal costs. Aside from his own costs, he owes €21,000 to the VRT and €19,500 to then-CEO Paul Limbrechts.

Perhaps the most difficult thing for De Pauw is that the civil court of judgment does not refer only to the crimes for which De Pauw was convicted. In November last year, he was found guilty of cyber-harassment and assaulting five women. De Pauw in Mechelen was acquitted of eight other women.

“It goes without saying that even such conduct (…) in a professional context, even if without criminal punishment for reasons specific to criminal law, was wholly inappropriate, a civil transgression and a form of abuse of power,” states the bourgeoisie. Court in Brussels.

Sten Verbist, Bart de Pauw’s attorney, was surprised. “As far as we are concerned, the criminal case in Mechelen ended with sentencing in November 2021. Moreover, Bart de Pauw let it rest there,” he says. The women were not involved in this other case. However, we see that all these facts have been raised again in this judgment of the Civil Court of Brussels.”

Enough proven facts

The court cites facts against four women against whom De Pauw was not convicted in criminal court, but nonetheless illustrate his problematic behavior pattern. This civil court considers these facts to be “conclusively established”.

It has to do with the complaints of actress Liz Ferrin, the camera assistant at the time and two of her interns. “The court considers that it was sufficiently civilly established that Bart de Pauw attempted to kiss her and touch her buttocks. Because she refused him, this led to an altercation between the two,” the court writes of an intern who took De Pauw abroad on a business visit.

He exchanged 3,300 messages with another intern, in which he sent, among other things, that he wanted to kiss her, that she smelled nice and she was wearing a nice dress. He invited himself to her dorm room. The camera assistant received messages so much that she no longer dared to come to the set. Lize Feryn received sexually colored messages from De Pauw out of the blue.

“It should be clear that this is an admission of women who did not receive this in the Mechelen criminal justice system,” says attorney Christine Mossi, who assisted the women at the time.

Bart De Pauw’s defense initiated this action, among other things because the CEO of VRT at the time spoke of “hundreds of text messages (…) with highly sexual and pornographic-colored phrases”, while according to her, the CEO was not at the time Only a few letters in possession. The court now decides that the number was not in the hundreds, but in the thousands of inappropriate letters.

“We are satisfied with our case, but the court sees it differently,” says De Pauw Verbist’s attorney. “We still have a month to file an appeal. We will discuss this in the coming days or weeks.”