2021 April 29

Groh v. Quocksister, 2021 ONSC 3226

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded the defendant Silver Arrows Cars Ltd. (on its counterclaim against the plaintiff) damages of $500,000 for loss of business reputation over defamatory remarks in an email made by the plaintiff Groh to a California auction house.  The court found that an auction of a vintage Ferrari was cancelled because of the email.   There was no pecuniary loss to Silver Arrows relating to the Ferrari (which it sold to someone else for more money).  However,  cancellation of the auction compromised Silver Arrow’s long-standing business relationship with a different California company which had supplied Silver Arrow with rare vintage Mercedes roadsters.   Cut off from that supplier, Silver Arrow lost the profits it would have earned from reselling the Mercedes roadsters over a five year period.