Law360 Canada ( October 25, 2024, 4:50 PM EDT) -- Appeal by VAC Development (“VAC”) from a motion judge’s decision to dismiss its counterclaim for defamation, interference with economic relations and damages. VAC argued that the motion judge carried out the public interest balancing stage incorrectly. Williams had been employed by VAC. After several incidents of racially motivated threats at the workplace investigated by the police, Williams was dissatisfied with VAC's response. VAC advised Williams that he was being laid off due to a temporary slowdown in business resulting from lockdown-related disruptions. Williams believed that a new employee was hired to fill his role after he was laid off. Williams approached CTV News with the story that his employer failed to take racist threats against him seriously and dismissed him as a reprisal for insisting the police be involved. CTV News subsequently published an article on its website that contained statements attributed to Williams to the effect that VAC failed to protect him from racist death threats. VAC was contacted by CTV before publication but chose not to comment. VAC argued that the statements contained numerous falsehoods. VAC did not at any point seek a retraction from CTV or bring proceedings against CTV. Williams brought an action against VAC seeking damages for wrongful dismissal. VAC responded with a $1,500,000 counterclaim for defamation, interference with economic relations and damages. Williams then brought a motion to have the counterclaim dismissed. The motion judge granted the motion and dismissed VAC's counterclaim as an abuse of process. However, VAC argued that the motion judge's analysis concerning the balancing of the s. 137.1 test was in several respects faulty and intermittently departed from the path of analysis....