A Quebec Superior Court judge's decision to order a woman to pay Cardinal Marc Ouellet $100,000 for defaming him is a reminder to HR and OHS professionals that unproven or recklessly advanced misconduct allegations can carry serious legal liability for the person who makes them.
Justice Martin Castonguay ruled Monday in favour of Ouellet in a defamation suit against Paméla Groleau, according to news publications. Ouellet sued after Groleau named him in a 2022 class action alleging sexual misconduct by members of the Archdiocese of Quebec, arguing the allegations damaged his reputation, honour and dignity.
Castonguay dismissed Groleau's account, writing she acted "recklessly or even maliciously" toward Ouellet, CBC News reported.
Groleau alleged she met the cardinal on several occasions between 2008 and 2010, while training or working as a lay pastoral agent for the Catholic Church, according to CBC News. She accused Ouellet of touching her without consent on three of those occasions and said she felt "hunted" during a fourth encounter, when he moved across a room to sit beside her, The Canadian Press reported.
The most serious alleged incident occurred in 2010 at an event celebrating a priest's ordination, when Groleau said Ouellet slid his hand down her back to the top of her buttocks and left it there for "several seconds," CP reported.
Groleau first reported her allegations anonymously in 2008 to a church advisory committee and later, in 2021, in a...
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