Quebec decide dismisses defamation swimsuit in opposition to comic Mike Ward concerning joke

A Quebec comic who gained a high-profile Supreme Courtroom of Canada human rights case final 12 months has logged one other authorized victory in opposition to one in every of his accusers.

A Quebec courtroom decide has dismissed a defamation swimsuit in opposition to comic Mike Ward in reference to a joke he made between 2010 and 2013 about Jeremy Gabriel, who on the time was a widely known teenage singer with a incapacity.

Gabriel’s mom, Sylvie Gabriel, was searching for $84,600 from Ward, arguing the joke he made at her son’s expense prompted her important hurt.

Decide Manon Gaudreault dismissed the swimsuit, writing that the one-year time interval to file a defamation declare had handed – even when considering the time the case had spent in different courts.

Nevertheless, Gaudreault’s Could 30 resolution rejected Ward’s declare that Sylvie Gabriel’s lawsuit was abusive and an extreme use of the authorized system.

The choice is the newest step in a protracted authorized saga between the Gabriel household and Ward, which culminated in a Supreme Courtroom of Canada ruling final fall stating that Ward’s feedback didn’t quantity to discrimination below Quebec’s rights constitution.

Jeremy Gabriel has Treacher Collins syndrome, a congenital situation characterised by deformities of the cranium and face. When Ward had delivered his comedy routine mocking Jeremy Gabriel, {the teenager} was a widely known singer who had appeared alongside Celine Dion and the Pope.

In 2016, Quebec’s human rights tribunal ordered Ward to pay $35,000 in damages to Gabriel and $7,000 to his mom primarily based on the remarks, which included a joke about drowning the singer. However that case went to the Supreme Courtroom, pitting inventive expression, within the type of darkish comedy, in opposition to the safety of 1’s dignity.

In a 5-4 resolution final October, the nation’s highest courtroom concluded that the weather of a discrimination declare below the Quebec constitution had not been established within the case. The courtroom additionally mentioned the singer and his mom selected the flawed courtroom – the human rights tribunal – for his or her case.

Jeremy Gabriel has additionally filed a separate $288,000 authorized motion in opposition to Ward in Quebec Superior Courtroom.

Ward’s lawyer, Julius Gray, says he’ll search to have that swimsuit dismissed at a June 29 listening to.

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