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Former Chamber of Commerce employee’s defamation action allowed to continue
Monday, February 13, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Anti-SLAPP, Defamation, Motion Dismissed
Although section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (the “CJA”), the “anti-SLAPP provision”, has become a powerful tool to dismiss defamation actions at an early stage, there is certainly no guarantee that its use will always be...
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Freedom of expression prevails in responses to COVID-19 protest organizers’ defamation action
Monday, January 16, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Anti-SLAPP, Defamation
March 2020 will live in our memories forever. It is the month that, among other things, the world panicked, that governments issued emergency orders to shutdown...
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Defamatory statements made in a pleading are immune to attack
Friday, November 25, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDefences, Torts, Defamation, Absolute Privilege
The law of defamation permits a defendant to raise specialized defences to defeat a claim. The most common defences are...
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Damages in a defamation action
Friday, November 18, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDamages, Torts, Defamation
Reputational harm is serious. It can have devastating impacts on the person whose reputation has...
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Female mining executive’s defamation claim against government employee allowed to proceed
Tuesday, November 15, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, SLAPP, Defamation
Ontario and British Columbia are the only two common law provinces that have anti-SLAPP legislation. This legislation permits the early dismissal of claims that...
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75-day house arrest ordered for contempt in a defamation case
Wednesday, November 2, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Contempt of Court, Defamation
In a previous blog dated June 30, 2022, my colleague James Cook wrote about the award granted to a university....
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Statutory immunity and qualified privilege protect City Councillor against night club’s action
Friday, July 29, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationPolitical Law, Torts, Municipal Councillors, Qualified Privilege
In the past few months, I have written a number of blogs about court decisions involving City Councillors. The courts and other processes...
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Losing an anti-SLAPP motion can be costly for a plaintiff
Thursday, July 14, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCosts, Torts, Anti-SLAPP
The issue of costs is important for parties to take into consideration when litigating a case. Presumptively, winning parties are entitled to...
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Toronto City Councillor knocks out defamation action
Monday, July 4, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationAnti-SLAPP Legislation, Torts
Although politicians continue to be targets of defamation actions, politicians also continue to knock them out under Ontario’s anti-SLAPP...
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City politicians succeed in getting defamation claim against them dismissed
Friday, June 10, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Anti-SLAPP
Politics can be a rough profession, particularly where the issues being debated attract diametrically opposed views. Some social issues often bleed into...
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Could full indemnity costs become the norm in defamation actions?
Monday, May 9, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCosts, Torts
As the use of social media platforms continues to grow, there is a correspondingly growing danger that the misuse of these platforms can cause devastating damage to
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Defamation basics and pre-trial disposition motions
Monday, January 24, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Pre-trial Disposition
We have written a lot about defamation cases on this blog and the pre-trial disposition of defamation actions under...
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Watchdog’s defamation action against municipality allowed to continue
Monday, January 17, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationPolitical Law, Torts, SLAPP
The law of defamation in the political arena has a long history. Passionate sparring between political opponents and the tendency to attack an...
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Ford wins again! Court of Appeal for Ontario upholds dismissal of defamation action against him
Friday, November 26, 2021Stephen A. Thiele, Alexander Melfi, Gavin J. TigheLitigationTorts, SLAPP
Section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (the “CJA”) has made it harder for a plaintiff to maintain a defamation action against a defendant where the issue related to the expression involves a matter of...
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Lawyer wins $500,000 in defamation action
Thursday, October 28, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDamages, Torts
Damage awards in a defamation case can be significant. This is especially the case where the person defamed is a professional. In Soliman v. Bordman, 2021 ONSC 7023, a prominent and...
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Defamer gets 18 month jail sentence for contempt of court
Thursday, October 21, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Remedies, Contempt of Court
In the law of defamation, we only tend to think about the damages that are awarded for a person’s loss of reputation or the intellectual analysis conducted by...
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Court Refuses To Dismiss Claims That Did Not Engage SLAPP Provisions
Wednesday, September 1, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, SLAPP
Section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (the “CJA”), which permits the dismissal of actions related to an expression made with respect to a matter of public interest, continues to...
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Plaintiff Suffers Blow: Punch to Face in Amateur Ice Hockey Game Found to be Not Reasonably Foreseeable
Thursday, July 22, 2021Stephen A. Thiele, James R.G. CookLitigationHockey, Torts, Sports Law
Ice hockey is governed by rules which penalize certain physical infractions, including cross-checking, fighting, hitting from behind, and...
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Litigant Misses the Cut in Lawsuit After Being Hit in the Head by a Golf Ball
Wednesday, June 9, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationSports, Torts, Negligence, Golf, Sports Law
Spectating a live sporting event is typically an enjoyable experience. Whether in the arena watching a hockey game or on the course taking in a round of golf, there is a general entertainment value that comes with...
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Summary judgment denied over defamatory TV show first aired in Pakistan
Tuesday, May 25, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationSummary Judgment, Libel, Slander, Torts
Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure provide that where there is no genuine issue requiring a trial, summary judgment shall be granted. It has been determined by Ontario courts that this rule is...
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$500,000 in damages awarded for comments about yellow Ferrari’s ownership
Friday, May 14, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDamages, Torts
Cars are a tremendous invention. Historically, among other things, cars changed the way that people travelled and reduced significantly the travel time between destinations. Cars are certainly very popular and...
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Injunction granted to stop defamatory posts published on Instagram
Friday, April 30, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Injunction
Social media is a great tool for, among other things, the promotion of personal or business interests, or connecting with like-minded individuals. It provides a window to...
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Gratuitous Defamatory Tweets About Plaintiff Not Protected as a Matter of Public Interest
Monday, April 5, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Pre-trial Disposition, SLAPP
The internet and social media have spawned much civil litigation in the area of defamation. There is no cost to obtaining a Twitter account, for example, and to “tweeting” out a...
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Limitation period avoided: Claims of republication of libel by third party allowed to be added action because stories were on internet
Monday, February 1, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Republication, Limitation Periods
Across the country, limitation periods have been enacted to regulate the time in which an action can be commenced. Defendants are entitled to finality, and...
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Internet Harassment Tort Recognized by Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Monday, February 1, 2021James R.G. CookLitigationTorts, Cyber-stalking, Harassment
Cyber-stalking and anonymous malicious postings on the internet, which may be disseminated across a variety of sites and platforms across the world, are issues to which the...
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Defamation suit surrounding BC’s foreign buyer tax is dismissed
Monday, January 25, 2021Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDefences, Political Law, Torts
The law of defamation is fascinating because the fact scenarios of each case are unique. Where matters of public interest are involved, people are prone to express opinions about the...
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