(CBC News) - A Saskatchewan Mountie has won a defamation lawsuit against a Wynyard man who spread salacious rumours about him around town.
Queen’s Bench Justice Murray Acton awarded RCMP officer Larry Kurtenbach $18,000 in damages and legal costs.
In his recently released 12-page decision, Acton said Larry Kurtenbach is a hard-working, respected and responsible police officer who does not deserve having his reputation attacked.
The man who will have to pay is Harry Lalach, a longtime resident of Wynyard who works in the local cemetery.
According to Acton’s ruling, Lalach didn’t like it when he saw RCMP officers taking what he thought were too many coffee breaks in the local café.
Lalach had other gripes about the detachment, which he took to a formal complaints office in 2004.
To bolster his position, Lalach started talking up the townsfolk, accusing one officer, Kurtenbach, of having an affair with a 19-year-old woman.
That was too much for Kurtenbach, who was concerned about what the accusations would do to his family and career.
Kurtenbach sued Lalach, who denied he defamed him, but the judge ruled in Kurtenbach’s favour.
“His conduct was beyond reproach,” Acton wrote in the Jan. 14 decision. “These defamatory remarks in a small town atmosphere could seriously affect not only his personal life and family relationships, but his career as well.”
The judge found that Lalach was on a campaign to ruin the reputation of the officer, and had even bragged about running another officer out of town years ago. The judge also said he wasn’t impressed with how Lalach conducted himself at the trial.
“His demeanour and evidence to the very end of the trial was one of arrogance and disrespect not only for the plaintiff but for his two witnesses as well,” Acton wrote.
Contacted by CBC, Kurtenbach said he didn’t want to talk about the episode. Lalach could not be reached for comment.
Wynyard is a town of about 1,700 people, located about 260 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
4 responses so far ↓
1 speaking_my_mind // Feb 11, 2008 at 13:37
Good to see. I wonder how long until someone has to resort to this within the ORG. It shouldn’t have to come to this, but it seems like it is way overdue.
2 Justbecause // Feb 12, 2008 at 00:57
Yes the Members legal fund has taken a few of these chronic and malicious complainers on and one . A popular one is Cst LIBERON suing a minister after recording it all on VICS , I believe he got 10,000.00 . In my opinion its not about the Money , the RCMP is one of the few Police agencies that refuse to prosecute malicious and/or false complaints . The municipal forces have it right at the top of the form advising charges will be considered if the complaint is false against its membership.
3 speaking_my_mind // Feb 13, 2008 at 01:28
It is good to see the legal fund goes for something besides those who are in hot water.
Yeah, I think the system is pretty gutless when malice fails to be prosecuted. It certianly creates a cover your behind mentality and makes members afraid to do their job.
I think it is absolutely terrible that public mischief charges are not pursued when this happens. I also think departments should make a civil claim of monetary damages in malicious cases. Even for procedural non criminal complains. I don’t know how feasible this is, but it is worth looking into. These people should be made to pay for all expenses related to any investigation. This would be a great place to start with any collective bargaining agreement and a deterrant against this kind of nonsense.
4 Alert Amber Saskatchewan » Blog Archive » Mountie wins slander suit against small town… // Feb 19, 2008 at 02:29
[...] Mountie wins slander suit against small town… Mountie wins slander suit against small-town gossip February 10th, 2008 Abuse Of Mounties (CBC News) - A Saskatchewan Mountie has won a defamation lawsuit against a Wynyard man who spread salacious rumours about him around town. Queens Bench Justice Murray Acton awarded RCMP officer Larry [...]
You must log in to post a comment.