2014 January 23

Warman v. Fournier, 2014 ONSC 412

The Ontario Superior Court awarded the plaintiff Warman $85,000 costs against the defendants following a three week jury trial involving defamatory postings on a website which resulted in an award of $42,000 for general, aggravated and punitive damages plus prejudgement interest. The Court held that the “defendants did not act reasonably when they failed to accept the plaintiff’s very reasonable Offer to Settle of $5,000 per defendant before trial and ruled that costs should be awarded on a “substantial indemnity” scale in part because “all of the defendants … acted with malice and highhanded egregious conduct.” The Court also found that “[I]n a complex defamation case such as this one, it would not be unreasonable to award an amount for costs in excess of the amount awarded for damages” and that the “time spent and the hourly rates [of legal counsel] were reasonable and proportionate to the very important objective of preserving the plaintiff’s reputation.”