Ontario Appeals Court Allows Defamation Case of Former Teacher Concerned About Age-Appropriateness of Books to Proceed

A former Ontario teacher has been given the go-ahead by the Ontario Court of Appeal to bring a defamation lawsuit against the Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB). Justices Benjamin Zarnett, Patrick J. Monahan, and Renee M. Pomerance on Nov. 5 dismissed an appeal filed by the school board of an earlier court decision in favour of Carolyn Burjoski. The teacher had launched a defamation lawsuit for an accusation by the school board chair that her remarks were “transphobic” when she spoke at a board meeting questioning the age-appropriateness of some books in school libraries “While we acknowledge the extreme vulnerability and disadvantage of transgender persons, we nevertheless dismiss the appeal from the motion judge’s order permitting the respondent’s defamation proceeding to continue,” the Justices wrote in the court decision....