Dr. Jean-Robert Ngola has launched a lawsuit against the province of New Brunswick, the RCMP, and Facebook.
He was blamed for being patient 0 in a 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in Campbellton, New Brunswick at the start of the pandemic. Higgs called him an, “irresponsible individual.”
Since then, he claims he has been singled out and targeted by the province and the RCMP despite the province being aware of his innocence.
He says the hatred he has received caused him to leave the province to practice medicine in neighbouring Quebec.
Further, the lawsuit names Facebook as a defendant, alleging the company was negligent in allowing misinformation and hate about his case to spread.
Hillary Young is a law professor at UNB and an expert in this specific area of the law.
She says that some claims will be easier to prove than others.
One specific legal wrong alleged by Dr. Ngola is defamation by the province. For this to succeed, Dr. Ngola would have to prove that provincial officials said something false that would make others think less of him.
Young makes it clear that the province does not have to know what it said was false.
One hurdle for this claim is identification. “He was not named as the irresponsible party,” says Young. “You cannot affect someone’s reputation if you do not refer to them.”
Dr. Ngola will have to prove that the province provided enough information that an ordinary person would be able to determine Dr. Ngola was the person being referred to.
Ngola also alleges misfeasance in public office and malicious prosecution stemming from being charged with violating provincial health measures.
Young says these allegations will be harder to prove. In both cases, Dr. Ngola would have to prove intent on the part of the province. In other words, that the province acted to intentionally harm Dr. Ngola.
The Statement of Claim says that the province intentionally blamed Dr. Ngola for the COVID-19 outbreak for political gain despite knowing he was innocent.
This is a, “serious allegation,” says Professor Young. Dr. Ngola has a heavy burden to prove it.
The action against Facebook makes novel claims, says Professor Young.
Dr. Ngola alleges, “wilful promotion of hatred for financial gain.” This is not a recognized “tort” or legal wrong in Canadian law. However, everything Dr. Ngola alleges mirrors the recognized legal wrong of negligence.
Professor Young says she is unclear what exactly Dr. Ngola is alleging that Facebook did. She notes that negligence law in Canada is usually about personal injury in something like a car accident and not about allowing someone to be exposed to hatred.
Professor Young feels that the claim may have had a better chance of success if Dr. Ngola alleged defamation against Facebook.
In Canada, social media companies are generally not liable for posts made by their users before they can be reviewed.
However, it is not settled if social media companies can be liable for defamatory posts once they review them and take no action. This would be new legal territory in Canada that has not been explored by the courts.
Joel Etienne, Dr. Ngola’s lawyer, was unavailable for comment.