Author and former UBC professor Steven Galloway says he was defamed by false online sexual-assault accusations, and his trial is expected to begin Monday in B.C. Supreme Court.
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A defamation trial is expected to start Monday in B.C. Supreme Court involving author and former University of British Columbia professor Steven Galloway, who says he was harmed by false accusations of sexual assault.
Galloway, a tenured professor and chair of UBC’s creative writing program when the rumours spread online, was never charged over the allegations. He was later fired, and a report produced for the university by former judge Mary Ellen Boyd concluded the accusations against him were unsubstantiated.
The defamation case was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada by the defendants, including Galloway’s accuser, identified in the court materials as A.B., along with others who repeated the allegations online. They argued their accusations were protected speech.
The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the case, after a lower court said that if the defendants’ arguments held, “there would be no legal consequences of any kind” for publicly calling someone a rapist.
One of the defendants, Chelsea Rooney, issued an apology to Galloway over the weekend, saying she was genuinely sorry for the part she played in causing harm to him.
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