Optical Express has been accused of ‘character assassination’ against a consumer rights activist who claims she helps people unhappy with eye surgery.
Sasha Rodoy launched her website, Optical Express Ruined my Life, in an effort to put unhappy patients of the major laser eye surgery firm in touch with each other.
She is now embroiled in a High Court battle after suing the company for libel, claiming it embarked on a campaign to discredit her.
The high street chain is accused of retaining PR firm Luther Pendragon to track the activist’s activities and gather material described internally as a ‘straightforward character assassination’, according to court documents.
Ms Rodoy alleges Optical Express acted with malice in a bid to destroy her reputation by sending letters to ex-patients between July 2020 and November 2021 describing her as a ‘vexatious individual’ and a ‘self-confessed and known fraudster’.
The company is also claimed to have told former customers the activist practised online trolling severe enough to involve the police, The Times reports.
She says this caused some recipients to doubt her advice and, in some cases, drop their complaints against Optical Express.
The company denies liability and claims the allegations against Ms Rodoy were substantially true.
Sasha Rodoy, pictured, launched her website, Optical Express Ruined my Life, in an effort to bring unhappy patients of the major laser eye surgery firm in contact with each other
She is now embroiled in a High Court battle after suing the company for libel, claiming it embarked on a campaign to discredit her (Stock Photo)
Optical Express also argues the letters it sent did not cause the ‘serious harm’ required by the Defamation Act 2013.
Founded in around 1991, the company claims it is Britain’s number one laser eye surgery provider and has more than 130 stores across the UK and Ireland.
Ms Rodoy says she commenced her campaign against laser eye surgery as a practice after an operation by Optimax ‘ruined her life’.
She claimed the treatment left her ‘sickened’ by the ‘corrupt’ activities of high streets clinics who sold procedures without fully laying out the risk.
Since then, the activist has attempted to help ‘thousands of people’ following surgery.
But she says she has been blighted by Optical Express who allegedly attempted to damage her reputation in a bid to shelter itself from bad publicity and lofty compensation claims.
The company is claimed to have hired Luther Pendragon in 2014 and compile a document including ‘information about Sasha Rodoy’s life, which clearly doesn’t relate to eye surgery but is intended to undermine her credibility’.
But Optical Express in turn argues it was entitled to disclose information it held which it claims revealed her as unreliable and unqualified source of advice to patients.
Rodoy is alleged by the high street chain to have made up a story about her establishing an agency called Decoy Dolls that deployed actresses to trap men cheating on their spouses.
She appeared on a string of chat shows and featured in several publications discussing the allegedly fabricated agency over a two to three-year period.
The activist insisted in court that Decoy Dolls was not a ‘hoax’, arguing that most media outlets were aware it was not a real agency.
She added this had ceased by 1997 and took place within the context of tabloid media.
Rodoy claimed her ‘historical’ conduct cannot support the present-tense accusation she ‘is a fraudster’.
She insisted her campaign was geared towards exposing what she regarded as unethical practices and she did not intend to harass staff members.
The case continues.
