The Ontario Court of Appeal reduced a full indemnity costs award made against the Toronto Star on Tuesday. The motion judge made the extraordinary costs award against the Star because it was a “media giant” that had unsuccessfully taken on an individual who was trying to protect his personal privacy. The Court of Appeal held that the Star’s action in seeking to publish potentially embarrassing personal information about the individual was not conduct worthy of sanction even though it affirmed a finding that the the Star was motivated, in part, by its private interests. Though notable to readers of this blog, given how it was handled this case is arguably more about the exceptional character of elevated costs orders than about media rights and privacy.
Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. v. Fraleigh, 2011 ONCA 555 (CanLII).
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