Complaint by Jocelyn Chabot and his partner in the Court of Quebec against Sun Media Corporation
SUMMARY OF FACTS :
The event occurred on October 12, 2003, when Sun Media Corporation published photos of a Raelian couple, Jocelyn Chabot and his partner, accompanied by descriptive texts, in the Journal de Montréal and the Journal de Québec. These photographs were part of a series of articles, from October 6 to 13, 2003, on the Raelian Movement. These photos were published without the respondents’ consent.
On October 15, 2003, Jocelyn Chabot and his partner filed a complaint with the Quebec Small Claims Tribunal against Sun Media Corporation for violation of their right to privacy.
On January 16, 2009, the hearing took place before Judge Charles G. Grenier. What was at stake in this trial is the public’s right to information and the right to free expression versus the right to privacy.
This series of articles follows the clandestine infiltration of the Raelian Movement by a journalist and a photographer from the Journal de Montréal, both employed by Sun Media Corporation.
The judge concluded that Sun Media Corporation had no reason to resort to clandestine infiltration techniques. The information gathered could have been gathered without resorting to such techniques.
In addition, the judge concluded that Sun Media Corporation had committed a fault by using photographs and publishing them without the consent of the plaintiffs.. The measures taken during the seminars to protect the privacy of the participants were sufficient. Thus, the use and publication of the photographs in a series of sensationalist articles infringed on the plaintiffs’ right to privacy.
APPENDIX – Judgment of the Court of Quebec, Jocelyn Chabot and his partner against Sun Media
ON THESE GROUNDS, THE COURT :
ORDERS the hiding of the plaintiffs’ names in the event of the publication or diffusion of this judgment;
In File No. 200-32-034788-041:
WELCOMES in part the request of the plaintiff, Mr. A: Jocelyn Chabot;
ORDERS the defendant, Sun Media Corporation, to pay the plaintiff, Mr. A, the sum of $2,000, namely $1,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000 in punitive damages, with interest calculated at the legal rate and the additional indemnity provided for in Article 1619 of the Civil Code of Quebec, from January 9, 2004, for the sum of $1,000; and from March 31, 2009, for the other sum of $1,000;
ORDERS the defendant, Sun Media Corporation, to pay the plaintiff, Mr. A, the legal fees in the amount of $88 and half of Mr. Alain Bouchard’s expert fees, namely $375;
In File No. 200-32-034787-043:
WELCOMES the plaintiff’s request, Ms. B;
ORDERS the defendant, Sun Media Corporation, to pay the plaintiff, Ms. B, the sum of $7,000, namely $4,000 in compensatory damages and $3,000 in punitive damages, with interest calculated at the legal rate and the additional indemnity provided for in Article 1619 of the Civil Code of Quebec, from January 9, 2004, for the sum of $4,000; and from March 31, 2009, for the sum of $3,000;
ORDERS the defendant, Sun Media Corporation, to pay the plaintiff, Ms. B, the legal fees in the amount of $140 and half of Mr. Alain Bouchard’s expert fees, namely $375.
