Articles 2020

The Court of Appeal for Ontario has now overturned the Superior Court of Justice’s decision in Rahman, finding that the “just cause” provision in the employment contract contravened the Employment Standards Act, 2000. This is yet another decision confirming and applying Waksdale and its strict interpretation of employment agreements regardless of contextual factors and the sophistication of the parties.

It’s not every day that one gets to rub shoulders with judges of the Supreme Court of Canada. In fact, the closest I had ever been to a Supreme Court judge prior to last week’s Gala dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto was back in 2007 when I visited Ottawa and signed up for a tour of the highest court in the land. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to attend the OBA gala in honour of Justice Rosalie Abella and Justice Mahmud Jamal on May 26, 2022. And what a supreme evening it was, indeed!

Most lawyers retained on cyberlibel actions never ask themselves how internet and offline libel actions differ, to the detriment of their client. Admittedly, it is a large and complex topic, and it requires an understanding of internet technology, reputation management, information warfare and strategic studies as well as defamation law, so in this article, I will just sketch the differences. 

There is still very little recognition among many lawyers of the differences between internet defamation proceedings and offline defamation proceedings, and even less recognition of the practical consequences of the two forms of defamation proceedings. The next article will summarize the major differences between online and offline libel litigation and their consequences. Here, I will simply sketch some of the important characteristics of the internet.

In 2016, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recognized, for the first time, the tort of public disclosure of private facts in response to the proliferation of “revenge porn” disseminated online. Since then, subsequent courts across the country have provided further guidance on the nuances of the tort and what types of privacy infringements it is intended to redress.