2016 July 18

Servant c Ritchie, 2016 QCCQ 7282

The Quebec Court (Civil Chamber) awarded the plaintiff Servant $10,000 moral damages and $5,000 exemplary damages over false allegations posted by the defendant on his personal Facebook page and another local Facebook page. The plaintiff Amed was also awarded $2,500 moral damages.

The Court noted that publication of the defamatory allegations by the defendant, an ex-employee, led to a government investigation (which cleared the plaintiffs) and caused rumours and false allegations which continued to circulate even after the plaintiffs were vindicated by the investigation.