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Don
Smith, also of Fort Frances
Judge Diane
Petit Baig
formerly of Fort Frances, Ontario
Settlement reached in
libel case
Wednesday, Jan 19, 2005
A libel case brought by Thunder
Bay Judge Dianne Pettit Baig based on several media articles
in February, 2000, has been settled.
The defendants, who included
seven Fort Frances lawyers, two members of the Fort Frances court
staff, a Fort Frances locksmith and three news outlets including
The Globe and Mail, contributed to a settlement of $568,000,
which includes the legal costs incurred over the five-year case.
© 2005 Bell Globemedia
Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Thunder Bay Judge's libel
case settled for $568,500 (Media Release)
2005-01-18 12:20:59
TORONTO, Jan. 18 /CNW/ - A libel case brought by the Honourable
Justice Dianne Pettit Baig, stemming from a February 8, 2000
article in the Globe and Mail and other media, has been settled.
The defendants, who include The Globe and Mail, The Canadian
Press, The Fort Frances Times, seven Fort Frances lawyers (Clare
Brunetta, Ian McLennan, Wesley Derksen, Ken Koprowski, Lawrence
Phillips, Emery Ruff and Donald Taylor), two members of the Fort
Frances court staff (Margaret Katona and Donna Anderson) and
a Fort Frances locksmith (Ken Rogoza) have all contributed to
the settlement totalling $568,500.00. The amount is paid to Justice
Baig for damages, including legal costs. The Globe and Mail paid
$200,000.00 of the settlement amount. All of the defendants have
made written apologies to Justice Baig who is a judge of the
Ontario Court of Justice in the Thunder Bay and Rainy River Districts.
For further information: contact her lawyer: Robert Rueter at
Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP, (416) 869-3363. .
Judge's libel case settled
By Jim Kelly - The Chronicle-Journal,
January 19, 2005
A Toronto law firm representing
Thunder Bay Justice Dianne Pettit Baig has been successful in
negotiating a settlement to a libel case stemming from a Feb.
8, 2000 story in the Toronto Globe and Mail and other media.
Baig's lawyer, Robert Rueter
of Rueter, Scargall, Bennett, said in a news release Monday Baig
will receive $568,500 for damages. The settlement includes legal
costs.
Defendants other than the Globe
and Mail include The Canadian Press, The Fort Frances Times and
seven Fort Frances lawyers (Clare Brunetta, Ian McLennan, Wesley
Derksen, Ken Koprowski, Lawrence Phillips, Emery Ruff and Donald
Taylor).
Other defendants contributing
to the settlement were Margaret Katona and Donna Anderson, two
members of the Fort Frances court staff, and Fort Frances locksmith
Ken Rogoza.
The Globe and Mail paid $200,000
of the settlement amount, the news release said.
Rueter said all of the defendants
have made written apologies to Justice Baig, who is a judge in
the Ontario Court of Justice in the Thunder Bay and Rainy River
Districts.
"The libel was for the
false accusations that the judge had smoked marijuana in her
chamber," Rueter said in an interview from his Toronto office.
"The statement was false.
An investigation by the Ontario Judicial Council concluded there
was no evidence to support the content," he said.
"This was a substantial
award that reflects the gravity of the matter.
"It's a vindication of
Justice Baig's good name and reputation."
Judge awarded $568,500 libel
settlement
The National Post's James Cowan
reports:
"An Ontario judge will
receive $568,500 in a libel settlement announced yesterday stemming
from allegations she smoked marijuana in her chambers.
Justice Dianne Pettit Baig
also received written apologies from the 13 defendants involved
in the case, including The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press
and The Fort Frances Times.
"It is a substantial amount,
which constitutes a substantial and meaningful vindication of
Justice Baig's good character and reputation," the judge's
lawyer, Robert Rueter, said yesterday.
Mr. Rueter said his client
has always maintained she only smoked a cigarillo. "She
was known to smoke them by anyone that knew her," Mr. Rueter
said."
Press, lawyers served
with libel notice
By Duane Hicks, Staff writer,
Fort Frances Times, March 22, 2000
The Canadian
Press, as well as several local lawyers and other media, were
served a libel notice Monday by Judge Dianne Petit Baig over
a story on allegations she had been smoking marijuana in her
private chambers back in November.
Judge Baig
instead said she had been sneaking a few puffs on a cigar.
"We
have received a complaint and we're looking into it," CP
lawyer Doug Robertson, of O'Donnell, Robertson and Sansilippo,
said yesterday.
Although
he couldn't specifically name others who had been served orders,
he did say there definitely were others.
"There
are local barristers that are involved, as well as other members
of the media," Robertson confirmed.
Three local
lawyers were contacted for comment. Clare Brunetta declined comment
while the receptionist for Lawrence G. Phillips said her employer
would likely remark "no comment."
The receptionist
for Wes Derksen hung up on the Times reporter.
A libel
notice is an order exacted when one believes themselves to have
been slandered.
"The
purpose of it is for us to go back, check the story, and make
a retraction or apologize if it's appropriate," noted Robertson.
The order
has been referred to the CP council, which will look into it.
"The
[CP] council reviews it as a complaint at this stage. It's at
a very preliminary stage," said Robertson.
In response
February 23, 2000
Dear sir:
This letter
is in response to the article which appeared in the Feb. 8 edition
of the Daily Bulletin regarding Justice Dianne Pettit Baig.
As president
of OPSEU Local 735, and on the urging of certain members of my
local, I feel it is my obligation to reply to the allegations
made by Her Honour against the employees of the Fort Frances
Courthouse.
The local
Law Society, and not the employees of the courthouse, originally
reported the incidence reported on in your paper.
Even though
the employees were made aware by the locksmith that he smelled
marijuana in the Judges Chambers, it is not the responsibility
of these employees to cause an investigation to be made.
It also
is felt by the court staff that any "cloud of doubt"
that is hanging over Justice Baig's career has been put there
by her own actions, and certainly not by the inaction of any
staff member.
I wish to
thank you for allowing the staff an opportunity to respond to
the article.
Yours truly,
Donna Anderson,
President
OPSEU Local
#735
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
