JK Rowling WINS legal battle with ‘utterly dishonest’ former PA who used her credit card to splash out on coffee and toiletries – as Harry Potter author reveals she sued her to ‘protect reputation of her staff’
Rowling is pictured with her husband Dr Neil Murray who gave evidence during the case
JK Rowling has won a long-standing legal battle with her ex-personal assistant after a court found she used her credit card to buy thousands in coffee and luxury toiletries.
Amanda Donaldson, 36, worked as the Harry Potter author’s PA from February 2014 to April 2017.
Rowling, 53, took legal action against her claiming she spent thousands of pounds at Starbucks, luxury toiletries brand Molton Brown and stationery shop Paper Tiger using a company credit card without permission.ADVERTISING
She told Airdrie Sheriff Court she also fraudulently obtained £7,742 in foreign currency, £1,160 in cash and Harry Potter merchandise worth £3,213 that should have been donated to sick children.
court documents also revealed that a staggering 3823 was spent on cakes and baked goods that weren’t authorised.
Rowling sought damages of £22,236 but was today told she would only be repaid £18,734 after the judge failed to find evidence she took the merchandise.
But he said he was satisfied that Ms Donaldson had acted ‘utterly dishonestly’.
The writer is donating all the money to her charity the Lumos Foundation, which works with displaced and ‘instutionalised’ children.
In a written statement after the case was heard, Sheriff Derek O’Carroll found Ms Donaldson, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, obtained £18,734 through fraud.
He said ‘having obtained £18,734 from the pursuer by means of her fraudulent misrepresentation’ she is bound to repay the sum to her former employer together with interest at 8 per cent.
In a statement, the Harry Potter author said: ‘JK Rowling is pleased that Sheriff O’Carroll has ruled that her former PA Amanda Donaldson must repay the money she fraudulently misappropriated from Ms Rowling.
What did JK Rowling’s PA spend her money on?
A court has found that Amanda Donaldson fraudulently obtained £18,734 from her former employer JK Rowling.
This included:
£3,000 at Molton Brown
£2,139 at Paper Tiger
£1,169 at Starbucks/Costa
£7,742 in foreign currency
£1,160 in cash
Ms Donaldson, 36, was cleared of taking £3,213 in Harry Potter Merchandise.
‘From the outset Ms Rowling made it clear that the decision to take this matter to court was a last resort and not for her personal benefit but rather to protect the reputation of her existing staff and to make sure Ms Donaldson is not in a position to breach the trust of another employer.
‘Terms of the recovery will be decided in due course and the money owed will be donated to JK Rowling’s charity Lumos.’
Ms Rowling alleged Ms Donaldson made transactions including more than £3,000 in retailer Molton Brown, £2,139 in card shop Paper Tiger and more than £1,619 in Starbucks and Costa coffee shops on a company credit card without authorisation.
Over the course of five days in the court, those present heard evidence against Donaldson from the author, her husband and members of her staff.
The defender herself also gave evidence as well as her current boss in her new employment, according to court records.
Ms Donaldson now works for Dron & Dickson LTD – a company based in Lowestoft, Suffolk who ‘specialise in the design, supply and maintenance of hazardous area electrical equipment’.
Writing on the company website, Colin Rowley – Managing Director and Ms Donaldson’s line manager – said that Dron & Dickson LTD values ‘honesty, integrity, good faith and transparency.’
The court also heard her accused of fraudulently obtaining £7,742 of foreign currency, more than £1,500 in cash and Harry Potter merchandise worth £3,213.
Mr O’Carroll found Ms Donaldson had use of a business credit card in her name but knew and understood it was not to be used for her personal benefit.
During her employment, she used the business credit card to make unauthorised cash withdrawals for her own use on a number of occasions, amounting to a total of £1,160, and unauthorised purchases for her own use in a large number of retail outlets amounting to a total of £9,832.
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But he said he was satisfied that Ms Donaldson had acted ‘utterly dishonestly’ by taking the money from JK Rowling (pictured in July 2016)
She also used her employer’s bank accounts to purchase foreign currency worth the Sterling equivalent of £7,742.
The sheriff found there was not enough evidence to prove that Ms Donaldson was responsible for Harry Potter merchandise going missing.
Ms Donaldson worked as Ms Rowling’s personal assistant from February 2014 until her dismissal in April 2017.
Mr O’Carroll said the expenditure on Molton Brown toiletries of £3,629 was ‘extraordinary’.
Giving evidence during the case, the author said she did not ask Ms Donaldson to buy the toiletries.
She explained her husband Dr Neil Murray is allergic to strong perfumes so she would never buy them for home or office use. He was quoted earlier in the trial as calling the accused ‘a good liar’.
He added: ‘I heard from office staff there was an occasion Amanda was out socially with staff and they bought pizza.
‘Amanda offered to pay for the group and took out the business credit card. I was told she said ‘don’t worry, Neil doesn’t check this card’.’
The sheriff said he found Ms Rowling gave her evidence in a ‘thoughtful, considered, measured, accurate, honest and reliable fashion’ and that where there was in her mind any doubt in favour of the defender (Ms Donaldson), she readily gave her the benefit of that doubt.
Giving final submissions in the case in January Allana Turley, representing Ms Donaldson, said her client never intended to deceive her employer and believed she was authorised to use the card in the way in which she did.
Mr O’Carroll said he did not find Ms Donaldson to be either ‘credible or reliable’.
The places that the cards was used in without authorisation included: Bibi Bakery; Boots the Chemist; Costa Coffee; Jo Malone; John Lewis; Marks & Spencer; Marcus Wareing; Molton Brown; Paper Tiger; Patisserie Maxime; Sainsbury’s; Starbucks; Waterstones; WHSmith.
The unauthorised amounts varied from a £25 cookery book to £3,629 spent in Molton Brown.
