A U.S. federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by former Afiniti and TRG executive Zia Chishti, rejecting his claims against former Afiniti employee Tatiana Spottiswoode and other defendants.

In a unanimous decision issued on Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that dismissed Chishti’s lawsuit with prejudice, concluding that the complaint failed to state a valid legal claim.

Chishti had sought damages and asked the court to rescind a 2019 arbitration award that had been issued in Spottiswoode’s favour. The appeals court left that arbitration award unchanged and rejected his request to overturn it.

The case stemmed from Spottiswoode’s testimony before a U.S. congressional committee in 2021 regarding allegations of sexual assault and harassment that had previously been the subject of confidential arbitration.

The appeals court ruled that her testimony before Congress was protected by legal privilege because it was given under subpoena in connection with legislative proceedings. It also found that subsequent statements to the media and related public comments were either protected opinion under the First Amendment or covered by the fair reporting privilege.

The ruling follows Chishti’s 2025 settlement of a separate libel case against The Telegraph. While the appeals court did not examine that UK settlement, it noted that the underlying 2019 arbitration award remained in force and declined to grant the relief sought by Chishti.

The decision effectively ends Chishti’s challenge in the U.S. courts, with the appeals court affirming the dismissal of all claims against the defendants.