Jérémy Gabriel's mother is again unsuccessful in her $84,600 lawsuit against Mike Ward. The Quebec Court of Appeal on Monday rejected Sylvie Gabriel's request to overturn the court's decision that found her defamation lawsuit against the comedian was time-barred.
• Also read: [VIDÉOS] Jérémy Gabriel ends the saga in which he competed against Mike Ward for 13 years
Sylvie Gabriel filed a civil lawsuit for $85,000 against Mike Ward in January 2022. His son Jérémy had simultaneously filed a lawsuit for $288,000 for the same reasons, which he ultimately rejected in May 2023.
Chantal Poirier / JdeM
The Quebec court rejected Ms. Gabriel's approach, finding that the action was time-barred due to the time that elapsed between the acts alleged against the comedian and the filing of the action.
This is because the Gabriel family had originally lodged a discrimination complaint with the Human Rights Commission, which went all the way to the Supreme Court. The country's highest court ruled in 2021 that Jérémy Gabriel had not been discriminated against, but that other offenses, particularly defamation, could also have been committed.
Sylvie Gabriel believed that the statute of limitations on her civil action should have been suspended during all of these proceedings to allow her to pursue Milke Ward despite the passage of time.
No part
However, the appeals court ruled otherwise on Monday, a little less than two months after the November hearing.
The three judges who heard the case believe the defamation claim “could have occurred [être entrepris] from the beginning and [suspendu] while we await the fate of the one who is discriminated against.”
On the other hand, the Court of Appeal recalls that, firstly, Sylvie Gabriel was not a party to the case, even if the Supreme Court had granted her the status of intervener. The plaintiff's lawyer, Me Stéphane Harvey, argued that this circumstance gave him the status of a “quasi-party”.
“Sylvie Gabriel was not an appellant before the Supreme Court,” however, remind the judges of the Court of Appeal, emphasizing that their court's original decision in the Human Rights Commission appeal process put an end to the appeals of woman in a personal capacity.
“No matter what it costs”
During the November hearing, Mike Ward's lawyer insisted there was nothing in Sylvie Gabriel's favor.
“We can feel sorry for her, I agree […] but the law and case law are clear,” argued Mr. Julius Gray. “She always comes back and says, 'Give me another chance.' It is not a question of luck, but a question of law.”
Sylvie Gabriel responded in a press release a few weeks later that it was her “duty as a mother” to go all the way.
“We [avons été] “We are truly victims of prejudice, attacks on our dignity and attacks on our reputation through Mr. Ward’s shows over many years,” she stressed.