The governing body for competitive Irish dancing is being sued by a five-time world champion who claims he was blacklisted on false accusations that he sent a sexually explicit video to two girls.
Dance instructor Jamie Hodges initiated a defamation proceeding against An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), also known as the Irish Dance Commission, in Dublin High Court last week.
Mr. Hodges has disagreed with the organization’s handling of the complaint, including a letter from one of its officials.
The legal action comes two months after Mr. Hodges (32) initiated separate defamation proceedings in New York against an organization of dance teachers and various figures involved in Irish dancing in the United States.
Both legal disputes are rooted in an email allegedly sent by a rival Irish dance instructor in November 2019.
Bristol-based Hodges, who runs the Irish dance company On The Move, says he had a lucrative business teaching children from around the world and had planned to host a summer camp in Pennsylvania last summer.
But he claims that his career and reputation have been destroyed as a result of a false accusation contained in the email.
In a US legal filing, Hodges claimed that Molly Lutwin, who runs the Francis Academy of Irish Dance in Syracuse, New York, alleged in an email that he or On The Move had sent a sexually explicit video involving a woman undresses two girls.
The two girls were said to have an Irish dance account on Instagram and agreed to upload a promotional video for On the Move when they allegedly received the explicit video instead.
According to the presentation, the camp had been approved by the Irish Association of Dance Teachers of North America – Mid-Atlantic Region.
But the indictment was later read at a meeting of that association in January last year. Mr. Hodges said parents subsequently began withdrawing their children from the camp and he was forced to cancel it.
He maintains that no such video was ever posted and that the accusation was “outrageous” and “completely false”.
Ms. Lutwin and other defendants in the New York action have yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
The Irish lawsuit against CLRG, seeking damages for defamation, began last Wednesday.
The documents have not yet been filed with the Superior Court, but one of the issues raised by Mr. Hodges is his belief that the CLRG did not adequately investigate the matter.
He has also disagreed with a letter from a CLRG official to Ms Lutwin, the details of which were outlined in the US proceedings.
The letter stated that the CLRG ethics committee could take steps to ensure that camps managed by On The Move are not approved by the governing body.
He also indicated that the ethics committee could “point out” the CLRG testing authority if Mr. Hodges or his brother Mitchell seek to be certified as affiliated dance teachers.
the Irish independent The CLRG was contacted for comment, but no spokesperson was presented.
However, the CLRG is understood to hold that the matter was not investigated because those involved in the On The Move camp were not registered as teachers with the governing body.
It is also understood that it maintains that the reference to the “flag” was made in the context of its rules, which require that teachers participating in camps be fully vetted.
According to Mr Hodges, he has been subject to background checks in the UK, where he lives, and is fully authorized to work with children.