An international DJ suing over an accident that left her ‘unable to perform’ has been accused of lying, as online posts allegedly show her playing at a festival shortly afterwards.
Chloe Caillet is claiming a £100,000 payout after falling bricks hit her outside the Kipferl Cafe in Islington, north London, during a night out in June 2018.
The Paris-born performer is claiming £50,000 for loss of earnings, with injuries, ‘dizziness, sleep disturbance and bad dreams’ meaning she had to take six months off to recover.
But defence lawyers say that Ms Caillet performed at events across the world during this period, including America’s famous Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.
Now facing accusations of ‘fundamental dishonesty’, a judge is being asked to completely dismiss the 30-year-old’s claim and make her pay the legal bills for the case.
Chloe Caillet, 30, allegedly pictured at Burning Man, is suing for £100,000 following an accident outside the Kipferl Cafe in north London that she said left her ‘unable to perform’
Ms Caillet, who is also a producer and multi-instrumentalist, has played at some of the most renowned clubs in the world.
Although she has enjoyed a jet-set life, based in New York and Ibiza at various times, Ms Caillet was living in Kensal Rise, north-west London, when the accident occurred.
According to a writ filed by her lawyers at Central London County Court, she was injured ‘without warning’ when ‘a section of brick cornice on the front of the building fell and landed on the claimant’.
It is claimed that Ms Caillet received injuries to her left shoulder, knee and back, bruising and abrasions to her legs, feet and hands, and a number of psychiatric after-effects.
She also claims to have been suffering from dizziness, sleep disturbance and bad dreams, anxiety and memory impairment.
‘I wasn’t able to work for six months following the accident,’ she said, in relation to her £50,000 claim for lost earnings.
Ms Caillet has enjoyed a jet-set life, based at various times in New York, Bristol and Ibiza (allegedly pictured at the Burning Man festival in Nevada)
Burning Man is a famous music and arts festival held annually in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert
‘I could not carry out any performances. My first set was on 19 January 2019 at the Petit Palace in Paris.’
But during a preliminary hearing at the court this month, Nick Grimshaw, barrister for the builder’s owner, O’Hare Holdings Ltd, said her social media painted a different picture.
An investigator produced a statement containing a 300-page bundle of online evidence, mostly from her own Instagram account.
It showed the French DJ ‘headlining at a variety of concerts on several continents’, he told Judge Christopher Lethem KC.
Her performances allegedly included a World Cup party in Shoreditch, east London, on or around July 7, 2018, and at the Burning Man Festival in Nevada in August and September.
Burning Man is a famous music and arts festival held annually in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, which attracts 70,000 people.
She also performed at a magazine launch and pop-up street events in New York during that September, an October event for Burberry and the opening night of an Andy Warhol exhibition in November, the defence said.
Between then and the end of 2018, she played sets in Shanghai, New York and the Maldives, claimed Mr Grimshaw.
The DJ now faces accusations of ‘dishonesty’ after she allegedly performed at Burning Man
He continued: ‘Publicly available social media reporting, including the claimant’s own Instagram account, shows that she performed/worked extensively during the period July to December 2018.
‘Throughout July to December 2018 she was playing events professionally and/or was fit to do so, had she wished.
‘The defendant will invite the court to find that the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest regarding her ability to work/perform, having regard to the nature of her action and the extent of the loss of earnings presented.’
He said that, although O’Hare Holdings has admitted fault for the accident, Miss Caillet’s claim should be dismissed completely because of her dishonesty.
‘The claimant is required to prove each and every item of alleged loss and damage,’ he said.
‘The defendant avers that the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest in the presentation of her claim and, in particular, the duration of any period when she was unable to work/perform as a DJ.’
During the hearing in court, Judge Lethem gave directions towards a trial of the case at a later date.
He said the bulk of the case would essentially come down to whether she did or did not work during the six months when she claimed she was too unwell.
‘The claimant is going to have to deal in her witness statement with a large number of social media posts,’ he said.
‘She is going to have to give an explanation for those posts, as well as indicating when she worked.’
No date has been set for the hearing into Miss Caillet’s claim.
