Benjamin Bernhard Fuhrmann

The City of Toronto sought an order declaring Shane O’Herlihy a vexatious litigant under s. 140(1) of the Courts of Justice Act due to his persistent and abusive conduct during litigation.

This conduct included sending numerous threatening emails and voicemails to opposing counsel and their families, and filing excessive and irrelevant court documents.

The court granted the application, finding O’Herlihy's conduct to be vexatious and an abuse of process, and imposed strict conditions on his future ability to initiate or continue legal proceedings, including requiring leave of the court and representation by a licensed lawyer.

The court also awarded substantial costs against him for the dismissed actions.

The appellants, a newspaper publisher and his company, appealed the dismissal of their defamation and other tort claims against city councillors, school trustees, and media entities under Ontario's anti-SLAPP legislation (s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act).

The appellants had published articles critical of the Toronto Catholic District School Board's LGBTQ2S+ policies, using derogatory language.

The respondents, in turn, took action to have the City of Toronto cease advertising in the appellants' newspaper, alleging the articles promoted homophobia and transphobia.

The motion judge dismissed the action, finding the respondents' expressions related to a matter of public interest and that the appellants failed to show their claims had substantial merit or that the respondents had no valid defence (specifically, fair comment).

The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, agreeing that the fair comment defence was viable, and that the appellants' constitutional arguments regarding freedom of expression and religious protection were without merit.

The appeal on costs was also dismissed.