Settlement Reached in Hadid v. NYRev Inc et al

John Hill

23. January 2015

Zaha Hadid and Martin Filler. Photos: Wikimedia Commons

In August 2014 Zaha Hadid sued The New York Review of Books and architecture critic Martin Filler over comments in a book review, and now the two sides have settled with Hadid donating the settlement money to a labor rights charity.

In filing the lawsuit, Hadid asserted "that Filler's June 5 review of Rowan Moore's Why We Build: Power and Desire in Architecture 'falsely implied she was indifferent to the alleged difficult working conditions of migrant workers on high-profile construction projects in the Middle East, including her own.'" Less than a week later Filler penned an apology: "There have been no worker deaths on the [Hadid's] Al Wakrah project and Ms Hadid's comments about Qatar that I quoted in the review had nothing to do with the Al Wakrah site or any of her projects. I regret the error."

Today Architectural Record reported on the settlement with this joint statement from the two parties:

On January 22, 2015, following extensive settlement negotiations, Ms. Zaha Hadid withdrew her lawsuit against the New York Review of Books and Mr. Martin Filler. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, which remain confidential, Ms. Hadid has accepted the apology of the New York Review of Books and Mr. Filler, and is pleased to announce, in conjunction with the settlement, the donation of an undisclosed sum of money to a charitable organization that protects and champions labor rights.