Honestly given work reference immune from defamation lawsuit, court rules
TORONTO — A woman who sued her former supervisor over a bad reference that cost her a new job lost her bid on Tuesday to overturn a decision throwing out her defamation claim.
In its ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal found no reason to interfere with a judge’s finding that the supervisor’s statements were defamatory but nevertheless protected from the lawsuit.
“The statements made by the respondent were defamatory but, given that they were made in the context of providing an employment reference, they were subject to a defence of qualified privilege,” the Appeal Court said. “The trial judge also concluded that the plaintiff had failed to prove malice in the making of the statements, so the defence of qualified privilege was not defeated.”
The case arose when a prospective employer contacted Darryl Riggin about Tracey Kanak. In response to the inquiry, Riggin, who had hired Kanak at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, made several negative comments about her, according to court records.