Zia Chishti, The Telegraph settle libel suit over reporting of ex-employee’s ‘grooming’ allegations

Zia Chishti, Pakistani-American tech entrepreneur behind Invisalign and Afiniti, has reached a settlement with the UK’s The Telegraph newspaper on a libel suit filed by him on a newspaper’s article covering the testimony of Tatiana Spottiswoode, a former Afiniti employee who won an arbitration award against Chishti for sexual harassment, assault and battery.

“On March 17, 2025, The Telegraph made a statement in open court that it withdraws its earlier position that the above allegations were true and that they were made in the public interest.

“The Telegraph apologises to Mr Chishti and his family for the harm they have been caused. Finally, The Telegraph has agreed to pay Mr Chishti a substantial sum by way of damages and a contribution to his legal costs,” the newspaper said in an apology statement.

With these steps, The Telegraph and Mr Chishti have agreed to end the litigation between them.

Zia Chishti ‘resigns as CEO, director at TRG Pakistan’

Chishti had alleged that the Telegraph article in question insinuated that he had “groomed” Ms Spottiswoode with sexual intent since she was thirteen years old.

The Telegraph withdrew its previous position that the reporting on the specific allegation of grooming Ms Spottiswoode since the age of thirteen and related conduct was truthful, and apologised to Mr Chishti for the harm caused by this statement.

In November 2021, in a US Congressional hearing, Ms Spottiswoode had disclosed the existence of an arbitration award against Mr Chishti for sexual harassment and assault, which was subsequently made public by the US Congress, revealing a $5 million plus award against him for sexual harassment, assault, and battery. Following Ms Spottiswoode’s testimony, Mr Chishti resigned from all his positions at Afiniti and holding company TRG. A few months after the hearing, the United States (US) Congress passed a law on a bipartisan basis outlawing forced arbitration in employment situations involving sexual assault and harassment.

Mr Chishti subsequently sued Ms Spottiswoode in the US in November 2022 for defamation. In October 2024, the district court in the US dismissed his defamation petition, ruling that it was a “thinly veiled attempt to undo the outcome of an arbitration that rejected Chishti’s account of events and ruled in Spottiswoode’s favour”.

In the United Kingdom, Mr Chishti also sued Ms Spottiswoode and the Telegraph in a libel proceeding, and later modified his petition, dropping charges against Ms Spottiswoode and focusing his suit against the Telegraph for inaccurate context around his alleged “grooming” of Ms Spottiswoode.