2010 July 5

B.C. Teacher’s Federation v. Thorne, 2010 BCSC 953

The British Columbia Supreme Court dismissed the defendant’s counterclaim for defamation which was based on comments attributed to a spokesperson for the plaintiff in articles published by The National Post and The Province (Vancouver) newspapers in their on-line and print editions. The newspapers were not sued by the defendant. The Court found that in speaking to the newspaper reporter, the plaintiff’s spokesperson had told the reporter she would not comment on the particular case of the defendant, but could speak only about the general practices of the plaintiff Teacher’s Federation. The Court stated: “[the spokesperson] can only be liable in defamation, it need hardly be said, for statements she actually made, considered in context. The fact that someone purporting to publish her statements misreported her, or omitted part of what she said and thereby altered the meaning of her words, cannot be brought home to her. The publisher could potentially be liable in defamation, but the person whose words were altered could not.”