2020 October 30

9329-6481 Quebec inc. v. Ouimet, 2020 QCCS 3472

The Quebec Superior Court awarded the plaintiff company $5000 special damages and $12,000 punitive damages over defamatory posts on private and public Facebook group pages which denigrated the training offered by the plaintiff in micropigmentation.  The posts on the private Facebook group (46 members) explicitly named the plaintiff.   The posts on the public Facebook page, which had 5,287 members, did not specifically name the plaintiff but contained pointers which identified the plaintiff company and included a copy of a cease and desist letter served by the plaintiff’s lawyers.  The Court noted there were 2 shares and 33 comments on the public page.  The defendants were commercial competitors.  The Court also ordered a permanent injunction and required the defendants to post a retraction and apology on Facebook.