2023 August 2

Malak v. Hanna, 2023 BCSC 1337

The BC Supreme Court awarded defamation damages aggregating $1.5 million dollars over a “campaign of defamation carried out by one of the largest traffic control services companies in British Columbia against its main competitor.”  The defamatory publications were posted to various Internet sites, on Telus’ ethics complaint line, and set out in correspondence sent to Premier Christy Clark and Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for BC Hydro.  The individual plaintiff Malak, who controlled the corporate plaintiffs, was awarded general damages of $500,000 and aggravated damages of $200,000.  The corporate plaintiffs were awarded general damages of $300,000.  Punitive damages of $500,00 were awarded to all plaintiffs.  “The claims … relate to electronic publications on or via the Internet, through posting to an online complaint platform and by email.  The most broadly circulated publications were made on websites and blogs.  It is arguable that defamation carried out over the Internet may be more damaging to reputation than defamation carried out by other means because of the possibility that the publications will be seen by a broader audience.”