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“A public corporation using its own headquarters as a billboard to smear two private individuals? I’ve never seen or heard of anything comparable.”

Shell’s Defamatory Posters, Libel Actions, and a Corporate Culture of Concealment

By John Donovan

Our family’s falling-out with Shell began over three decades ago. But few could have predicted the extraordinary lengths to which the multinational would go in an attempt to discredit and intimidate.

The Infamous Shell Centre Posters

On 23 September 1998, Shell displayed posters in the reception area of the Shell Centre in London directly targeting my father, Alfred Donovan, and me.

Here is the text, reproduced verbatim:

YOU MAY BE HANDED A LEAFLET OUTSIDE SHELL CENTRE BY MR ALFRED DONOVAN, FORMERLY OF A COMPANY CALLED DON MARKETING UK LIMITED. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT JOHN DONOVAN, A DIRECTOR OF DON MARKETING UK LIMITED, MR ALFRED DONOVAN’S SON, HAS ISSUED A WRIT AGAINST SHELL UK CLAIMING THAT HIS COMPANY INVENTED THE SMART LOYALTY CARD PROGRAMME.

MR DONOVAN’S ALLEGATIONS HAVE BEEN VERY CAREFULLY INVESTIGATED BY SHELL UK AND DISCUSSED IN DETAIL WITH MR DONOVAN AND HIS SOLICITORS. THE CLAIM IS BEING VIGOROUSLY DEFENDED. AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW, MR DONOVAN HAS MADE SOME OFFENSIVE STATEMENTS ABOUT SHELL UK COLLEAGUES. WE REJECT SUCH ALLEGATIONS ABSOLUTELY AND ARE WHOLLY CONFIDENT THAT OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE ACTED IN THIS MATTER AT ALL TIMES IN GOOD FAITH AND IN LINE WITH OUR LONG-STANDING BUSINESS PRINCIPLES.

23RD SEPTEMBER 1998 PXX COMMUNICATIONS

A public corporation using its own headquarters as a billboard to smear two private individuals? I’ve never seen or heard of anything comparable.

Libel and High Court Actions: Shell Retreats

We brought libel actions against Shell for its defamatory statements, including:

Press release

Leaflets handed out at Shell’s main offices in the UK and The Hague

An article by a Shell Legal Director in an internal publication (undisclosed during discovery)

Shell ultimately settled six high court actions:

Two for libel

Four for breach of contract and confidentiality

After the initial settlements, Shell UK Chairman and CEO Dr Chris Fay sent me an unsolicited letter of apology for Shell’s conduct.

But the saga didn’t end there. Shell then proceeded to misappropriate another confidential business idea — the SMART loyalty scheme. We were forced to take legal action once again.

A Pattern of Deception and Concealment

Shell’s final high court settlement with me included a secret payment. But crucially, Shell withheld the details from the judge, leaving him with a false impression of the case’s resolution. The same falsehoods were circulated internally within Shell.

Throughout discovery, Shell buried key evidence under irrelevant paperwork. It withheld incriminating documents, and engaged in covert tactics, including undercover surveillance and threats.

This pattern of behaviour is not isolated. It is echoed in Shell’s wider track record:

The reserves fraud

Brent Bravo deaths and cover-up

Ogoni Nine and the company’s links to that tragedy

Sakhalin-2 environmental disaster

Corrib Gas project

OPL 245 corruption scandal

The faces at Shell may change, but the playbook remains the same: deny, deflect, and obscure.

The Ongoing Campaign

Shell may have settled the legal cases, but it did so under questionable circumstances, using threats and covert operations rather than open accountability.

That is why I continue to campaign: either Shell must live up to its so-called “Business Principles,” or admit they are just PR spin.

Can anyone explain how on earth Shell has ended up in such a totally uncontrolled situation after a 65-year business relationship with the Donovans? A constant stream of highly damaging information is now being released on an almost daily basis — material Shell is self-evidently unable to stop.

It is an unbelievable state of affairs, one that reflects not only on the current management but on every generation of Shell leadership that failed to resolve or contain this ongoing corporate nightmare.

The choice is Shell’s. The evidence is public. The fight continues.

 

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.