The defendant brought an anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act to dismiss the plaintiff's defamation action.
The action arose from Facebook posts made by the defendant accusing the plaintiff, a school principal, of sexual harassment and abuse of power, using the #MeToo hashtag.
The court found that while the expressions related to a matter of public interest, the plaintiff's claim had substantial merit and there were grounds to believe the defendant had no valid defence.
The court concluded that the significant harm suffered by the plaintiff, including loss of employment and community standing, outweighed the public interest in protecting the expression.
The motion was dismissed, allowing the defamation action to proceed.
