Former Toronto Humane Society spokesman gets SLAPP'd

Here's what a SLAPP suit is.

And now, from The Toronto Star, "Humane society sues ex-employee":

The Toronto Humane Society is suing a man it holds partly responsible for a recent spate of bad publicity – the same man it once paid to obtain good publicity.

Lee Oliver was the society's chief spokesman from late 2006 to mid-2008, when his employment as "senior communicator" was terminated.

The lawsuit, seeking $1.5 million in damages, was filed July 21.

A million dollars of that is for loss of "charitable contributions, profit and goodwill". The other half mil is for punitive damages stemming from what The Star calls "sensational" allegations.

Suing for punitive damages backed up by sensational allegations. Thank you THS for once again showing your true colours. If there's a reason for loss of "charitable contributions, profit and goodwill", I suspect it's not because of Mr. Oliver.

No, Mr. Oliver is just the unlucky victim of big money lawyering. The message to him, and to all other critics of the THS, is shut up or we'll bankrupt you.

Notice too that they are going after a private individual as opposed to, say, The Globe and Mail which actually ran the series of articles detailing the troubles within the THS. I guess it's harder to sue someone your own size.

More here.