Stephen Ellis

This costs endorsement followed a defamation judgment where the plaintiff was awarded $85,000.

The plaintiff sought $37,589.77 in costs.

The defendants failed to submit their costs response on time, citing illness, but had previously indicated acceptance of a $35,000 offer to settle costs.

The court awarded the plaintiff the full amount claimed, emphasizing the defendants' failure to seek an extension and the plaintiff's thorough submissions.

The plaintiff, Shai DeLuca, an interior designer and public figure, sued the defendants, Foodbenders and its proprietor Kimberly Hawkins, for defamation.

The defendants had posted and reposted statements on Instagram, including calling DeLuca a "terrorist" and implying he aimed a sniper rifle at Palestinian children, and later calling him a "racist" and "killer." The court found the statements defamatory and rejected the defence of fair comment, primarily due to factual inaccuracies and the defendants' malice.

The court awarded $75,000 in general and aggravated damages and $10,000 in punitive damages, and granted a permanent injunction.

The appellant, an Imam, appealed the dismissal of his defamation action against the respondent under an anti-SLAPP motion.

The defamation claim arose from a petition shared by the respondent alleging the appellant's lack of transparency and accountability regarding a property sale.

The motion judge found the claim lacked substantial merit and that the public interest in protecting the expression outweighed the harm.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision, deferring to the assessment of the claim's merit and the balancing of public interests, and dismissed the appeal.

Following the successful dismissal of the plaintiff's defamation claim under the anti-SLAPP provisions of the Courts of Justice Act, the defendant sought full indemnity costs of approximately $29,500.

The plaintiff argued that full indemnity costs were inappropriate because the claim had some merit and the defendant's statements were demonstrably false and reckless.

The court agreed with the plaintiff, finding that the lawsuit was not a traditional SLAPP and was driven by the defendant's recklessness.

The court rebutted the presumption of full indemnity costs and awarded the defendant partial indemnity costs fixed at $20,000.

The moving party brought an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss a defamation claim arising from his distribution of a petition criticizing the responding party's leadership of a religious society.

The petition included a false allegation that the responding party's family sold society lands without accounting for the proceeds.

The court granted the motion and dismissed the action, finding that the expression related to a matter of public interest, the responding party failed to show the claim had substantial merit or that there were no valid defences, and the public interest in protecting the expression outweighed the harm to the responding party.