Ursula, a Lecturer in Law at Stepford University, applied for a position as Professor of Tort Law at Walford University. Clive, the Professor of Public Law at Walford University, was in charge of the applications process. Seeking to obtain an independent assessment of Ursula's abilities, he e-mailed George - a Law Professor at Redbridge University - to ask him to provide a reference for Ursula. George e-mailed back to say, "T m surprised that a reputable university such as Walford would even consider employing someone like Ursula. I hear she's as dishonest as Staplethorp - for example, I've heard that she once used funds which were given to her for the purpose of employing a research assistant to take a holiday in Turkey" In fact this was untrue though there was a rumour going round in academic circles that Ursula had done such a thing. At the same time, Ursula was convicted when she was a student of steering a law book from a shop- something which Ursula had managed successfully to conceal from her employers. "Staplethorpe" is a law academic who was recently sacked after it was discovered that he had misrepresented his A-level grades on his c.v. in applying for a job. Clive and Ursula were both subscribers to an on-line discussion group on the liabilities of public authorities which was run by Harold. The day after he received the reference from George, Clive saw that Ursula had e-mailed an observation on the liabilities of public authorities to the discussion group. He pressed the "Reply?" option beneath Ursula's contribution and wrote an e-mail to Ursula - to which he attached George's e-mail - saying "I thought you had better see the attached reference from George. Are his allegations true?". He then sent the e-mail to Ursula but accidentally pressed "Yes" when he was asked "Reply to all users?" with the result that his e-mail to Ursula was sent to every member of the liabilities of public authorities discussion group. Ursula e-mailed Clive to say "You can safely ignore what George has to say. He's had it in for me ever since I slept with Davina, one of his students whom he fancied". In fact, Davina had rejected Ursula's advances and George had never had any feelings for Davina Nigel was one of the members of the discussion group who received Clive's e-mail to Ursula and, having opened the attachment out of curiosity, forwarded it to Burt saying, "Aren't you considering whether to give Ursula some money to fund her taking a year off to compare tort law in England and Australia?" On receiving the e-mail, Burt turned down Ursula's application for funding though he would probably have turned it down anyway on its merits. Ursula was in the end turned down for the Professorship in Law at Walford University; George's reference played no part in the decision. Advise the parties. Ursula, a Lecturer in Law at Stepford University, applied for a position as Professor of Tort Law at Walford University. Clive, the Professor of Public Law at Walford University, was in charge of the applications process. Seeking to obtain an independent assessment of Ursula's abilities, he e-mailed George - a Law Professor at Redbridge University - to ask him to provide a reference for Ursula. George e-mailed back to say, "T m surprised that a reputable university such as Walford would even consider employing someone like Ursula. I hear she's as dishonest as Staplethorp - for example, I've heard that she once used funds which were given to her for the purpose of employing a research assistant to take a holiday in Turkey" In fact this was untrue though there was a rumour going round in academic circles that Ursula had done such a thing. At the same time, Ursula was convicted when she was a student of steering a law book from a shop- something which Ursula had managed successfully to conceal from her employers. "Staplethorpe" is a law academic who was recently sacked after it was discovered that he had misrepresented his A-level grades on his c.v. in applying for a job. Clive and Ursula were both subscribers to an on-line discussion group on the liabilities of public authorities which was run by Harold. The day after he received the reference from George, Clive saw that Ursula had e-mailed an observation on the liabilities of public authorities to the discussion group. He pressed the "Reply?" option beneath Ursula's contribution and wrote an e-mail to Ursula - to which he attached George's e-mail - saying "I thought you had better see the attached reference from George. Are his allegations true?". He then sent the e-mail to Ursula but accidentally pressed "Yes" when he was asked "Reply to all users?" with the result that his e-mail to Ursula was sent to every member of the liabilities of public authorities discussion group. Ursula e-mailed Clive to say "You can safely ignore what George has to say. He's had it in for me ever since I slept with Davina, one of his students whom he fancied". In fact, Davina had rejected Ursula's advances and George had never had any feelings for Davina Nigel was one of the members of the discussion group who received Clive's e-mail to Ursula and, having opened the attachment out of curiosity, forwarded it to Burt saying, "Aren't you considering whether to give Ursula some money to fund her taking a year off to compare tort law in England and Australia?" On receiving the e-mail, Burt turned down Ursula's application for funding though he would probably have turned it down anyway on its merits. Ursula was in the end turned down for the Professorship in Law at Walford University; George's reference played no part in the decision. Advise the parties