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ARTICLE · 15 FEBRUARY 2023

Former Chamber Of Commerce Employee's Defamation Action Allowed To Continue

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Overall, the defendants accused the plaintiff of unprofessional conduct and questioned her integrity.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Stephen Thiele
Stephen Thiele
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Although section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (the "CJA"), the "anti-SLAPP provision", has become a powerful tool to dismiss defamation actions at an early stage, there is certainly no guarantee that its use will always be successful even if the defendant can establish that the issues in the action involve a matter of public interest.

In Kirkland v. Nagy, 2023 ONSC 871, the court dismissed a section 137.1 motion to dismiss the plaintiff's defamation action in circumstances where she had been terminated from her job as the Executive Director of a local Chamber of Commerce in a small community.

Beginning in May 2021, the defendants, who were local business owners and entrepreneurs, had written letters about the plaintiff's job performance and had called for her termination. The letters were sent to the Chamber and its board members and to members of other Chambers of Commerce.

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