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ARTICLE · 07 MARCH 2017

Former Employee Successfully Sued For Defamation For Facebook Posts

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In recent years, careless, or let's say, less than sensible comments on social media have gotten countless employees in trouble with their boss.

CanadaEmployment and HR
Amanda Shaw
Amanda Shaw
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In recent years, careless, or let's say, less than sensible comments on social media have gotten countless employees in trouble with their boss. Employees who have used Facebook as a forum for posting threatening language and vile insults about a supervisor or offensive accusations about the company they work for have quickly been shown the door; and arbitrators and labour boards are often prepared to uphold these dismissals.1

A new decision from the Court of Quebec2, however, confirms that the consequences of resorting to social media to badmouth an employer don't stop with the end of the employment relationship. Ian Ritchie, the dismissed employee in question, found this out the hard way, when his former employer sued him for defamation after he posted accusations about the operation of their business on Facebook.

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