2019 June 21

9353‐0913 Quebec inc. c. Pare,  2019 QCCQ 4324

The Quebec Court (Civil Chamber) awarded the plaintiff fitness company damages totaling $3,500 damages for defamatory posts on Facebook which falsely accused the plaintiff of violating consumer legislation.  The defendant Pare, on whose Facebook account the posts were published, was ordered to pay $1,000 moral damages and $500 punitive damages.  The defendant Renaud, who authored the Facebook posts, was ordered to pay $1,000 moral damages and $1,000 punitive damages.  The defendants never retracted or apologized. The Court noted that although words published on social media can be particularly damaging and reprehensible, the plaintiff had not tendered evidence about the number of people who read the posts or their identity.  There was no evidence of specific loss to the business.