2012 June 18

Uppal v. Diler, [2012] O. J. No. 2713.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Small Claims Court) awarded the plaintiff dentist $22,000 general damages against a former patient over defamatory emails and internet postings on YouTube and the website of the Association of Dentists which the Court held were part of a “deliberate campaign to harass [the plaintiff] and smear him in the eyes of a variety of parties associated with the practice of his profession.” The duration of this campaign was almost two years and commenced six years after the defendant was his patient for a brief time in 2004 and after her complaint to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons was dismissed. The Court would have assessed the plaintiff’s general damages at $45,000 except for the fact his formal claim only sought $22,000.