2007 November 23

Warman v. Fromm and Canadian Association for Free Expression Inc., Ontario Court File No: 04-CV-26550SR, appeal dismissed 2008 ONCA 842, leave to appeal to Supreme Court of Canada denied: March 23, 2009, [2008] SCCA No. 40  

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded the plaintiff, a human rights lawyer, defamation damages aggregating $30,000 over nine postings on various Internet websites. The award consisted of $20,000 general damages and $10,000 aggravated damages The Court held that the individual defendant’s statements were designed to hold the plaintiff up to ridicule by “staying away from the truth behind [the plaintiff’s actions] because of his [the defendant’s] profound philosophical support for unbounded and unlimited freedom of expression, despite the parameters and constraints imposed by law.” The Court found that the dominant motive of the individual defendant was to attack the plaintiff personally “in retaliation for the [plaintiff’s] use of legal processes to restrain illegal speech.”