1999 September 23

Campbell v. Cartmell, [1999] O.J. No. 3553

Five school board officials and the Toronto District School Board sued in the Ontario Superior Court over defamatory letters which were posted on Web sites and on Scribe, an internal bulletin system of the Scarborough Board of Education.

The Court awarded a total of $15,000 Cdn general damages to five of the plaintiffs ($3,000 Cdn each to four individuals and the School Board) plus a total of $2,000 Cdn aggravated damages ($500 to each of the four individual plaintiffs who received an award of general damages).

In addition, the court awarded $1,500 Cdn punitive damages to one individual plaintiff. The court subsequently ordered that the defendants pay solicitor and client costs (substantial indemnity for legal fees) [2000] O.J. No. 840.