Defamation in Wrongful Dismissal

Wednesday's Superior Court decision in Hotz v. Regan Desjardins LLP, 2008 CanLII 9612 dealt with a number of pleadings issues in the context of a wrongful dismissal claim.

A common, albeit generally regrettable, plea in a wrongful dismissal action involves a claim of defamation. Such claims are often weak and are better made as a basis for enhanced notice. Nevertheless, defamation continues to be pleaded.

Such pleas can be problematic because defamation is fairly technical and it is easy to go offside necessary particulars. In Holtz a clear failure of pleading occurred because the basic constituents of a defamation were missing -- what was said, when and to whom. Failing those particulars issues of whether the words could be defamatory cannot even be considered.

The Court held:

[11] The pleadings relating to defamation are lacking in any particulars as to words spoken, specifically when and to whom they were spoken. Elevated to its highest, the defendants mentioned the fact of the plaintiff's arrest to other members of the firm. Low though the threshold for pleadings may be that threshold has not been met.
James Morton
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