N.S. woman ordered to pay $60K to former nurse for online defamation

The mother of a severely disabled Nova Scotia man has been ordered to pay a former nurse $60,000 in damages for defamatory online posts that a judge says were aimed at destroying the nurse's reputation.

In the same ruling, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Denise Boudreau was highly critical of a government investigation and report that was the basis of the Facebook posts, calling it devoid of methodology or procedural fairness to the extent of being "entirely inconclusive." 

"The plaintiff is a nurse, she was defamed by the defendant and labelled an 'abuser' of a vulnerable person in her care," wrote Boudreau in her ruling, released earlier this month.

"There is no evidence before me that the plaintiff mistreated MM or anyone else. The suggestion that she did was untrue and unfair. These events caused harm to the plaintiff's reputation and caused her a great deal of upset, suffering and anguish. The defendant, even today, refuses to apologize or even acknowledge that her actions were unfair and harmed the plaintiff."

The ruling stems from a September 2016 incident and involves a patient at Emerald Hall at the Nova Scotia Hospital in Dartmouth, N.S. The court ruling also paints a grim picture of conditions at the hall at the time of the incident.

Matthew Meisner is autistic and has a mood disorder and, according to court records, could be violent and unpredictable. On the evening of Sept. 2, 2016, he became disruptive. There was only one nurse working in the hall that night, with one other employee. There were 15 patients. 

At one point, Meisner flung feces at the nurse, hitting her in the head. With the help of the other employee and two security guards, Meisner was placed in a restraint chair, where he remained until the morning shift arrived at the hospital. According to Boudreau's decision, Meisner began spitting on people at that point so a hand towel was draped over the helmet that Meisner wore to protect him from self-harm.

A write-up of the incident mistakenly identified the hand towel as a pillowcase, and a manager who spoke to Meisner's mother the day after the incident provided her with that incorrect information.

Tracey Meisner repeated that claim in media interviews over the following days and weeks.

"While the plaintiff knew this allegation was untrue, as a nurse she was forbidden from discussing the care of any patient with third parties," wrote Boudreau. "As a result, she was unable to publicly defend herself."

Meisner also repeated the assertion that the nurse was overheard questioning whether Matthew Meisner's excrement was "retarded." The nurse testified that she actually questioned whether it was "infected," given that she'd been struck in the side of the head. She also denied she made the comment where the patient could hear her.

In November, the plaintiff saw pictures of herself on Meisner's Facebook page, accompanied by captions naming her as an abuser and comparing her to a child molester. The posts were seen by "numerous people," according to the ruling, and the plaintiff was repeatedly contacted by media for a response to the allegations. She was "extremely upset," contacted police and took a stress-related leave from work. 

Boudreau wrote that it's understandable that Tracey Meisner was upset by what she had been told, even though it was incorrect.

"None of this gave the defendant licence to unfairly and harshly single out the plaintiff, identify her in a public forum, and undertake a campaign to destroy her reputation," the judge wrote.