Former TRG Pakistan CEO Zia Chishti has suffered another major legal setback in the United States. On July 9, 2026, a federal appeals court upheld the complete dismissal of his lawsuit against former Afiniti employee Tatiana Spottiswoode and her legal representatives.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss the case with prejudice. Consequently, this ruling leaves the former tech executive facing multiple enforceable legal outcomes in the U.S.
Court Rejects All Defamation & Contract Claims Against Spottiswoode
The appellate judgment flatly rejected Chishti’s wide-ranging allegations. Specifically, the court dismissed his claims of defamation, false light, breach of contract, and tortious interference. Furthermore, the judges threw out his claims regarding abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy. The court also rejected a loss of consortium claim brought by Chishti’s wife.
Most importantly, the ruling leaves a 2019 arbitration award issued in Spottiswoode’s favor completely unchanged. The court affirmed the dismissal of Chishti’s explicit request to rescind that award.
In fact, the appeals court repeated a harsh description from the lower district court. The judges called Chishti’s lawsuit “a not-so-thinly veiled attempt to undo the outcome of an arbitration that rejected Chishti’s account of events and ruled in Spottiswoode’s favour”.
Congressional Testimony Holds Absolute Privilege
This high-profile litigation followed Spottiswoode’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee in November 2021. At the time, she testified under a congressional subpoena about allegations connected to her previous employment at Afiniti. Her testimony directly informed legislators who were considering laws to end forced arbitration in workplace sexual assault and harassment disputes.
Chishti later alleged that her testimony was defamatory. He claimed it was part of a broader campaign to destroy his personal and professional reputation. Additionally, he challenged various newspaper comments, social media statements, and the submission of arbitration materials to Congress.
However, the appellate court ruled that absolute legislative privilege fully protected Spottiswoode’s testimony. The judges found that her statements were directly relevant to an official congressional proceeding. Moreover, the court rejected the claims targeting statements made by Spottiswoode and her attorney to The Telegraph and on social media. The court concluded these statements were either protected opinions, comments based on disclosed facts, or privileged reports.
The UK Settlement & Mounting New York Troubles
Interestingly, this ruling comes over a year after Chishti settled separate libel proceedings against The Telegraph in the United Kingdom in March 2025. Following that UK settlement, Chishti and his wife publicly claimed full vindication. They maintained that the resolution proved the allegations against him were false.
Nevertheless, the D.C. Circuit completely ignored the UK settlement. The federal court did not determine what conclusions to draw from it. Instead, the court made it clear that the separate UK settlement did not invalidate the 2019 arbitration award. It also did not prevent U.S. courts from dismissing Chishti’s claims.
Meanwhile, Chishti faces separate, severe legal defeats in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. That court recently ruled that several claims pursued by Chishti against TRG entities were already released under a 2022 settlement agreement.
In addition, the New York court found that Chishti transferred assets to his wife with the actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors. As a result, the court ordered his spouse to turn over those assets to TRG to satisfy an existing arbitration award against Chishti. Ultimately, these combined American rulings leave Chishti with no path forward to reverse his legal losses.
