2025 February 20

Rainbow Alliance Dryden et al v. Webster,  2025 ONSC 116

The Ontario Superior Court awarded defamation damages aggregating $380,000 to four plaintiffs over Facebook posts by the defendant in 2022 concerning drag-story time events involving the plaintiffs.

The three individual plaintiffs and the plaintiff non-profit corporation were each awarded $75,000 general damages and $20,000 aggravated damages.  The Court ruled, among other things, that the posts “fostered disinformation and hate” and that the defendant “was motivated by actual malice toward the plaintiffs who were members of a vulnerable community.”