2015 August 14

Experts-conseils RB inc. c Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac (Ville), 2015 QCCS 3824

The Superior Court of Quebec awarded the plaintiff corporation $50,000 moral damages, $1.8 million for pecuniary loss, and $30,000 punitive damages against the defendant municipality for defamatory accusations contained in a press release on Canada NewsWire which was issued at the same time in March 2001 that the defendant filed a defence to a lawsuit brought by the plaintiff to recover unpaid contract amounts. The web bulletin Quebec-Municipal published the release on its webpage concerning news from the municipalities. A regional newspaper also devoted an article to the allegations. The municipality settled the contract claim in December 2003, paying $1.45 million to the plaintiff, and issued an apology which it distributed in a press release. The court found that the plaintiff had become suspect in the eyes of the community, and lost the confidence of its clients, and suffered a radical reduction in its client base. In other cases, the plaintiff had to offer reduced fees to customers in order to obtain work. The Court held that the importance of reputation to professionals is undeniable, because they need to preserve the confidence of their clients which is essential to the relationship with existing clients as well as developing new clientele.