2019 April 23

Holden v. Hanlon, 2019 BCSC 622

The British Columbia Supreme Court awarded $20,000 general damages and $7,500 aggravated damages to the individual plaintiff over a series of postings made in 2016 and 2017 by the defendant Hanlon on various social media platforms and internet discussion forums. The individual plaintiff operates a people locating and process serving agency. The defendant Schiele was held jointly liable with the defendant Hanlon for $1,000 of the general damage award. The Court considered that the defamation was serious and falsely impugned the plaintiff’s integrity and ethics. The plaintiff, who suffered humiliation and anxiety, was compelled to change her name and her company’s name and to reorganize her businesses.