Gary Curtis v. Bank of Nova Scotia, 2024 ONSC 2308 (CanLII)
Superior Court of Justice — Ontario
A self represented plaintiff launched legal proceedings arising out a statement published by defendant Bank in May 2012 accusing the plaintiff inter alia of “knowingly uttered fraudulent documents on several applications. ” The action, originally a constructive dismissal action, transformed into a defamation action which took 10 years to reach trial The trial judge, dismissing the bank’s defences of justification and qualified privilege, awarded the plaintiff $175,000 in general and aggravated damages , $475,000 in specials,$200,000 in punitives for a total of $850,000. Plus $69, 268 for prejudgment interest.
The Judge made the following observation at para [167]: ” I therefore award punitive damages against the bank in the amount of $200,000 for the fact that it never once considered revisiting the original flawed investigation to determine whether there was proof of Curtis’ involvement in the shelter fraud perpetrated by the bank’s mortgage applicants and customers. Too frequently, institutional defendants treat litigation as a cloak for freezing activity. The court must make this absolutely clear: litigation is the time to investigate, investigate, and investigate. Doing nothing and expecting the lawyer to pull the rabbit out of the hat is unfair to the lawyer, risks defeat at trial, and forces the opposing party to endure unnecessary litigation.”