2011 February 22

Mina Mar Group Inc. v. Divine, 2011 ONSC 1172

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded $50,000 general damages for defamation to the plaintiff corporation and its principal against the two defendants who live in New Jersey. In addition, the Court held that punitive damages of $25,000 were warranted (provided the plaintiffs abandoned an unspecified claim for actual financial loss). The defendants, who did not defend this action, were found to be responsible beginning in 2006 and continuing to date of judgment for “profuse posting on Internet bulletin boards and websites” which frequently defamed the plaintiffs, causing them to lose clients and opportunities for new clients. The Court also granted a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from disseminating, posting on the Internet or publishing further defamatory statements concerning the plaintiffs.