Morris v. Williams, (1995) 164 N.B.R.(2d) 10 (TD)

• Judge: Smith, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick (Canada)
• Case Date: February 15, 1995
• Jurisdiction: New Brunswick
• Citations: (1995), 164 N.B.R.(2d) 10 (TD)

Morris v. Williams (1995), 164 N.B.R.(2d) 10 (TD);

    164 R.N.-B.(2e) 10; 421 A.P.R. 10

MLB headnote and full text

[French language version follows English language version]

[La version française vient à la suite de la version anglaise]

....................

David W. Morris (plaintiff) v. Guylaine Williams (defendant)

(F/C/240/94)

Indexed As: Morris v. Williams

New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench

Trial Division

Judicial District of Fredericton

Smith, J.

May 16, 1995.

Summary:

Morris sued Williams for damages on the ground of defamation. Williams was noted in default. The only issue for trial was the assessment of damages.

The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, assessed damages accordingly.

Damage Awards - Topic 632

Torts - Injury to the person - Libel and slander - Defamation - Morris, a lawyer, owned a nightclub - The club employed 14 female bartenders - After an audit, Morris informed Williams, one of the female bartenders, that she would not be allowed to work at the bar or any other position which required her to handle cash - Williams quit - Williams told a third party that she quit because she refused to become intimate with Morris and that to divert attention from his sexual harass­ment, he accused her of being short in her cash - Morris sued for defamation - Mor­ris claimed he lost revenue from his legal practice, the nightclub and from his part­nership in a real estate company - The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, awarded Morris general damages of $2,500.

Cases Noticed:

Smith v. Noël and Presses francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick Inc. (1989), 95 N.B.R.(2d) 277; 241 A.P.R. 277 (T.D.), affd. (1989), 99 N.B.R.(2d) 303; 250 A.P.R. 303 (C.A.), dist. [para. 19].

MacDonald v. Poirier (1991), 120 N.B.R.(2d) 18; 302 A.P.R. 18 (T.D.), dist. [para. 19].

Statutes Noticed:

Defamation Act, R.S.N.B. 1973, c. D-5, sect. 2 [para. 9].

Rules of Court (N.B.), rule 21.02(1)(a) [para. 2].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Duncan and Neill on Defamation (2nd Ed.), p. 124 [para. 17].

Counsel:

Patrick Hurley, for the plaintiff;

Guylaine Williams, on her own behalf.

This case was heard on February 15, 1995, before Smith, J., of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, Judicial District of Fredericton, who deliv­ered the following judgment on May 16, 1995.