Lawyer Gilbert Labine has filed and served notice of libel against Brian Webster, the administrator of the Thunder Bay Courthouse – Inside Edition Facebook page, and a notice of application was filed and served on both Webster and Pino Demasi, who operates The Real Concerned Citizens of Thunder Bay website and Facebook page.
Labine, who is being represented by Douglas Judson, claims he was defamed by material published on The Real Concerned Citizens of Thunder Bay site and allegedly authored by someone calling themselves the Thunder Bay Courthouse – Inside Edition, on or about Jan. 16 and Jan. 19.
Calling Labine’s performance lacklustre and weak, the Jan. 16 article goes on to say Justice Anna Gibbon nonetheless decided to release his client.
The article then labels Labine as forgetful and also says, “Sad to see lawyers working past their prime.”
The story was published on TRCCTB site, its accompanying Facebook page and on the Thunder Bay Courthouse – Inside Edition Facebook page.
On Jan. 19 on The Real Concerned Citizens of Thunder Bay website, an article entitled “Police make arrests in vicious beat down and forced paint drinking” was published.
The article in question, also ascribed to the Thunder Bay Courthouse - Inside Edition, includes the statement, “He informs the court that his lawyer is Gil Labine. Labine is not in court today. Use Gil and you might be found Gil Tee.”
The suit argues the posts in question are “defamatory to the applicant, constitute a libel of the applicant’s professional character and abilities, and are damaging to his professional reputation and the reputation of the applicant’s business and have brought the applicant into ridicule and contempt and the applicant has suffered damage to his public reputation as a result.”
The notice says Webster and Demasi should have known the material cited above was defamatory to Labine.
The application seeks a permanent injunction forcing Webster and Demasi to remove any postings or articles that reference Labine or his business, Atwood Labine LLP, or staff or clients and to refrain from further publication or dissemination of the same.
Labine is seeking to recover the costs of the proceeding, plus any applicable taxes from Webster and Demasi and “such further and other relief that this Honourable Court may deem just.”
Demasi and Webster are expected to face the accusations in court on March 21.
When the court documents were posted to the TRCCTB Facebook page on Thursday, Demasi stayed mostly silent.
"I won't be commenting on this. Everyone else have at her tho (sic) lol," he wrote.
None of the accusations have been proven in a court of law.
