Lacarte v. Toronto Board of Education, [1959] S.C.R. 465 (1959)

Extract

---

Lacarte v. Toronto Board of Education, [1959] S.C.R. 465 (1959)

Supreme Court of Canada

Lacarte v. Toronto Board of Education, [1959] S.C.R. 465

Date: 1959-03-25

Meriza Lacarte (Plaintiff) Appellant;

and

The Board of Education of Toronto (Defendant) Respondent.

1958: October 28, 29; 1959: March 25.

ON APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO.

Libel and slander-School teacher dismissed-Statutory duty to communicate reasons to teacher-Defence of qualified privilege-Absence of evidence of malice-The Teachers' Board of Reference Act, 1946 (Ont.), c. 97, s. 2.

The plaintiff, a former high school teacher, was dismissed from her employment in 1948 by a letter informing her that, by a resolution, the defendant Board had approved a recommendation of the Advisory Vocational Committee that her employment be terminated "on the ground of lack of co-operation". She sued for damages for libel allegedly contained in her letter of dismissal. The defence pleaded qualified privilege and lack of malice. The trial judge, sitting with a jury, ruled that the publication had been on occasions of qualified privilege and that there was no evidence of malice to go to the jury, and directed a verdict for the defendant. This judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeal.

Held (Rand and Cartwright JJ. dissenting): The action should be dismissed.

Per Taschereau, Locke and Abbott JJ.: The letter dismissing the plaintiff was written in pursuance of the statutory duty imposed by s. 2 of The Teachers' Board of Reference Act, 1946 (Ont.), which provided that every termination of employment of a teacher by a ...

See the full content of this document

---