US & Canadian Diplomats Sue Their Governments

There’s already a thread about the ’Havana syndrome’ in Social Issues & Current Events: Alien Attack? Mass Hysteria? Conspiracy?/US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks', but now the case has turned into a lawsuit because both Canadian and U.S. American diplomats are suing their respective governments, which is what interests me here. The Canadian case can be summed up as follows:

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Five Canadian diplomats say in a 28 million Canadian dollar ($21 million) lawsuit that the government failed to protect them, hid crucial information and downplayed the seriousness of the risks. The Canadian government acknowledges that nine adults and five children from diplomatic families have developed unusual illnesses in Havana. The lawsuit said that not only "were the diplomats prevented from considering the true risks of a Havana posting to their own health, but they were also denied the opportunity to protect their children, and must live with the knowledge that they may never fully recover." Canadian diplomats file suit over injuries suffered in Cuba (Japan Today, Feb. 8, 2019)

At this stage it seems impossible for the Canadian government to claim that the diplomats and their families weren't actually harmed since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has stated that:

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... there was “no question that the health impacts on diplomats in Cuba have been visible and real,” pushing back on suggestions that the diplomats merely suffered from mass hysteria or psychosomatic symptoms. Medical testing on diplomats evacuated from both Canada and Cuba have led doctors to conclude that the diplomats developed symptoms and medical issues that can’t be faked, NBC News has reported. “We’ve been taking it very, very seriously from the beginning, and we will continue to take very seriously the health and safety of all Canadians who serve anywhere overseas,” Trudeau said in Ontario. He said Canada has continued to work with local authorities in Cuba to investigate. (Press from, Feb. 9, 2019)

Now, I would say that the plaintiffs had a good case if they accused their respective governments of mishandling a case of mass psychogenic illness, but still it's no real surprise that the victims of the alleged health attacks insist that they were real and not hysteria caused by paranoia and the sound of crickets. In a radio interview their lawyer says:

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”The cricket stories infuriated my clients” (...) ”my clients were really not happy with that,” since they seem to think that ”its an effort to change the narrative.” (…) “We have people who are injured. The bottom line. Doctors have come on and said, ‘these people are injured.’”[/i] (…) “Their allegation against the Canadian government is that you knew there was a problem, you knew people were falling ill, and you asked us not to say anything, and you left us in Cuba.” 'Havana Syndrome' Canadian diplomats who worked in Cuba suing for $28M - Larry talks to Personal Injury Lawyer Paul Miller with Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP (Newstalk 610 CKTB)

(Like some of the diplomats, my hearing is impaired so I have problems hearing some of the comments from the lawyer who is interviewed on the phone, not in the studio. Unlike the diplomats, however, I don't blame Cuban crickets or microwaves. The experts say that in my case it's due to age and genetics ...)

How will the respective government lawyers handle a case like this?
In my opinion, both governments are guilty - but not as charged! They are guilty of not only neglecting to take a case of mass psychogenic illness seriously but actually aggravating it by denying all the evidence delivered by the scientific community - apart from the reports that they commissioned from their own government agencies. Robert E. Bartholomew, an expert in mass hysteria/mass psychogenic illness says:

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I have no doubt that the Trump Administration, which has consistently claimed that an attack took place (including Trump himself), now realize that they have made a mistake, but they do not want to admit it. The facts in this case are beyond clear and compelling; they are definitive. Any talk of a sonic attack is science fiction. Now some people are trying to move the goalposts and claim it was a microwave attack. There is even less evidence for that than a sonic attack. Were the ‘Sonic Attacks’ on American Diplomats Just Sci-Fi? (Skeptic Inquirer, Feb. 5, 2019)

And it will probably be extremely embarrassing for the governments to admit that they were wrong all along. So what will they do?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2V5VBfW