Judge dismisses Dale Kirby defamation claims following 2018 bullying allegations

[ad_1]

Dale Kirby’s lawsuit against his former Liberal colleagues and the former legislative standards commissioner has been dismissed.

In her Dec. 22 ruling, Judge Sandra Chaytor said the majority of Kirby’s claims were covered by parliamentary privilege, meaning the court had no jurisdiction to rule on them. The judge awarded legal costs to Parsons and Holloway.

Kirby, the province’s former education minister, filed a lawsuit in 2020 against former Liberal MP Colin Holloway and current Women and Gender Equality Minister Pam Parsons, claiming that ‘they acted maliciously when they alleged he bullied and harassed them in 2018. Kirby also said Bruce Chaulk’s investigation of those complaints was negligent.

Chaytor denied all but one of Kirby’s requests. Regarding the defamation allegations, she ruled that these did not fall under parliamentary privilege, since Kirby took issue with the comments made in public.

However, Chaytor said the defamation claims were not supported by the facts of the case as presented. Instead of dismissing the claims outright, she gives Kirby the chance to refile an amended statement.

Kirby was removed from cabinet and caucus by Prime Minister Dwight Ball in the spring of 2018 after Parsons and Holloway complained that Kirby had harassed them, and Chaulk was asked to investigate the allegations.

Chaulk’s investigation found that Kirby had not bullied or harassed his colleagues, but had breached the code of conduct for MPs in relation to Parsons’ complaint. He also found that Kirby did not violate any of the alleged code of conduct violations raised by Holloway.

Kirby and fellow ousted Liberal MP Eddie Joyce were ordered to apologize in the House of Assembly. The two men made it short.

“I apologize,” Joyce said on Nov. 6, 2018.

“I apologize to the House, Mr. Speaker,” Kirby said the following afternoon.

Joyce had filed a similar lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. In a pre-Christmas ruling, Chaytor ruled similarly, with Joyce dismissing his claims based on parliamentary privilege.

Learn more about CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

[ad_2]