Court upholds $700K libel award for relentless internet smear campaign
TORONTO — Two businessmen who waged a vicious and relentless internet smear campaign against a former associate must pay their victim $700,000 in damages, Ontario’s top court affirmed on Wednesday.
In dismissing appeals from Saul Rabinowitz and Moishe Bergman, the court found the damages awarded Ronald Rutman were reasonable given the egregious nature of what he endured.
“This is a case of serious, sustained, and baseless internet defamation,” the Appeal Court ruled. “Rabinowitz’s defamatory activities persisted over a lengthy period. They were unrelenting, insidious and reprehensible.”
The case arose in 2007 when Rutman, a Toronto chartered accountant and successful businessman, had a falling out with the others. They eventually agreed to resolve the dispute and all signed on to the agreement, but Rabinowitz continued to stew.