The Supreme Court defeat against Mike Ward did not dampen singer Jérémy Gabriel, who filed a $372,600 lawsuit with his mother, this time for defamation.
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“Jérémy Gabriel is entitled to be compensated,” reads the lawsuit filed at the Quebec courthouse.
This amount is 10 times higher than what was awarded to him by the human rights tribunal in 2016, only to be canceled by the Supreme Court last October.
The highest court in the country then ruled that the comedian had not discriminated against the young singer by making fun of his disability during a show presented 230 times from 2010 to 2013, when Jérémy Gabriel was a young teenager.
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“The action for discrimination is not and should not become an action for defamation, had recalled the court. Mr. Gabriel could have sued for defamation. »
Clearly, Jérémy Gabriel took that passage at his word, since that’s exactly what he did with his new $288,000 lawsuit. His mother Sylvie Gabriel is claiming $84,600, much more than the $7,000 initially granted before losing on appeal.
“He came to smash everything she built with her son,” the lawsuit says in the court document.
Ms Gabriel says she was devastated by Mike Ward’s jokes which made her child, then a young teenager, feel ridiculed.
Jérémy Gabriel indicates for his part that the words of Mike Ward, in addition to traumatizing him, have “greatly harmed the development of his talent” and therefore his career as a singer.
The Gabriel clan’s lawyer did not call back The newspaper, it was not possible to know how the amounts claimed were assessed.
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Limitation period
Before even being able to plead on any fault of Mr. Ward, or even the prejudice caused to Mr. Gabriel, the latter will however have to convince the magistrate that the request deserves to be heard.
Barring exceptional cases, the statute of limitations for defamation is one year, while the Mike Ward jokes date back to 2010.
“We will certainly file a motion to dismiss,” said the Journal Me Julius Gray, who defends Mike Ward.
The Gabriel clan believes for its part that the limitation period has been suspended throughout the legal saga before the human rights court.