The plaintiff brought a motion to set aside a registrar’s administrative dismissal of a defamation action against an unknown defendant and sought default judgment.
The defendant had posted numerous anonymous defamatory statements about the plaintiff online, continued publishing further statements after the action commenced, refused to identify himself despite a court order, and was noted in default.
The court held that the registrar’s dismissal should be set aside because the plaintiff had received no notice and had not been dilatory.
The court found the statements plainly defamatory and entered judgment in default.
The plaintiff was awarded $100,000 in general damages, $50,000 in aggravated damages, $50,000 in punitive damages, and substantial indemnity costs.
