2020 January 27

Moses c. Robillard, 2020 QCCS 410

The Quebec Superior Court dismissed libel claims by a manager and another worker against a subordinate employee arising from a series of comments he posted regarding an online video on a private website frequented by the plaintiffs’ work colleagues and others employed in the same field.  Although the video itself was not defamatory, the defendant’s comments questioned the presence in the video of the plaintiffs and their relationship to the central figure in the video (not a plaintiff), who had been convicted of a serious criminal offence.  The Court suggested that the defendant’s texts may have been intended to solicit criticism from other readers that the plaintiffs should not have appeared in the video with someone with a criminal record, but that even the most provocative comment by the defendant did not exceed the limits of fair and honest criticism.