Dentist wins defamation suit against former employees

A Saskatoon dentist has successfully sued two former employees for $240,000 in damages for a series of negative online reviews they wrote anonymously about his practice.

Queen’s Bench Justice Richard Elson made the decision last month after defendants Paige Harrison and Nia Harrison did not defend against a claim that they defamed Dr. Gary B. Houseman in a series of reviews published on Rate MD and Google Reviews after they were separately dismissed from his practice in 2017.

Kristen Hnatuk, who represented Houseman, said it’s the first case in Saskatchewan where anonymous reviews of a medical professional have been declared to be defamatory.

“I think it’s going to send a message to the general public that you can’t do this,” Hnatuk said. “You can’t hide behind a computer.”

The anonymous reviews, posted between March 2017 and April 2018, contained unsubstantiated accusations of poor or unethical practice at Houseman’s clinic, which he runs in City Park along with two other partners, one of whom is his father.

Houseman argued the reviews hurt his business and affected his personal and professional lives.

A review posted on Oct. 8, 2017, read: “I’ve never been to a worse dentist in my life. Shotty work, terrible attitude, and extremely rude. I will absolutely NEVER step foot in that office, and I will do everything in my power to make sure everyone I know wont (sic) either. If I could give less than one star I definitely would.”

Another review, posted in November 2017, read: “Hands down worst dentist. Only see Gary if you want to pay an arm and a leg for a filling to have it fall out numerous times.”

Hnatuk says the case was years in the making. First, her client had to contact Ratemd and obtain the IP addresses of the reviewers. Then, they contacted their respective internet service providers to locate and confirm the identities of the defendants. Houseman’s claim said it helped that the reviews contained information that only employees of his business would know.

The defendants, who represented themselves, did not defend against the claim. There was no given explanation of why the employees wrote the comments.

Elson determined Houseman was entitled to general damages for the effect on his reputation as well as $140,000 in special damages for the lost business caused by the negative reviews.

The two defendants are jointly liable to pay $190,000 in special and general damages and each is individually liable to pay $25,000 in punitive and aggravated damages, for a total of $240,000.

They were also ordered to take down the reviews.