2019 January 8

G & B Maternite c. Claveau et Cantin, 2019 QCCQ 48

The Quebec Court (Civil Chamber) awarded $15,000 moral damages to the plaintiff company jointly against the two defendants; one a store owner and the other a business competitor.   The plaintiff was also awarded $5,000 punitive damages against the store owner and $2,000 punitive damages against the competitor. The defamatory statements were published on Facebook and falsely impugned the integrity and ethics of the plaintiff.  The defendants published defamatory posts, comments and replies on their own Facebook pages.  Facebook posts by the store owner were copied in reposted by others elsewhere on the Internet.  The plaintiff received accusatory messages from third parties and one client refused to handle the plaintiff’s products.