Greetings,
I have been made aware of allegations regarding the plagiarism of my work; specifically, that my concerns are unfounded and that I have engaged in bullying and harassment of the guilty party. I am writing to reassure you that this is untrue. I have three years of receipts that clearly demonstrate idea mining of my work in the Folklore & Fiction project, and these have been reviewed by academic and legal professionals who agree with my assessment of the materials. I have also been offered the opportunity to pursue the matter in a public inquiry, but after consultation with those who made this offer, I decided to keep the peace. At the time, I was a graduate student with a heavy workload, and I preferred to keep the delicate detente where it stood. Both parties had exchanged letters through their respective attorneys, and I had demonstrated a willingness to defend my work, so I saw no reason to pursue the matter as long as the guilty party left that work alone going forward.
Now that I have completed my PhD, I still have a heavy workload, but I am also unwilling to permit the defamation of my professional reputation. The offer to pursue a public inquiry remains open to me, and defamation is actionable via the legal system, but I would still rather keep the peace. After eight years, I am finally free to write and make music again, and I want to focus my time and attention on that. However, if you have been approached by the guilty party about these allegations and have concerns about your professional relationship with me as a result, I invite you to contact me directly and privately about the matter. I cannot release the substantial file I have on the guilty party, but I will answer your questions and share what I can about the situation within the scope of the legal limitations placed on a conversation of this kind by my attorney.
My goal here is to ease the minds of colleagues and not to create or exacerbate conflict. I know this is an uncomfortable letter to read, and I assure you it was uncomfortable to write as well. But I can't permit accusations of bullying and harassment to stand, and I value my colleagues. So please consider this an open invitation to contact me about this matter or about any other concern you might have regarding our professional relationship.
Thank you for your time.
Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran