The defendant brought a motion to strike portions of the plaintiff's amended statement of claim alleging defamation.
The defamation claim was based on statements communicated by the defendant to the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) regarding customer complaints and alleged ethical breaches by the plaintiff.
The defendant argued that these statements were protected by absolute privilege.
The court granted the motion, finding that confidential communications of complaints to a statutory body exercising disciplinary powers, as a step incidental to quasi-judicial proceedings, are protected by absolute privilege, thus disclosing no reasonable cause of action for defamation.
