A Regina teacher is seeking $1 million in damages for defamation, after he was accused of sexual assault on the Instagram page, the Victims Voices Regina.
Regina lawyers Sharon Fox and Madlin Lucyk of Nychuk & Company, confirmed to Global News it filed a statement of claim on Aug. 10.
According to the statement, the teacher claims that a post was uploaded to the Instagram page which contained information that was “false and untrue and have defamed his personal and professional character.”
The post in question was uploaded to the page on July 25. It accused the teacher of sexually assaulting a woman while she was passed out and then showing up at her work.
The claim accuses the account’s administrators of refusing to remove the post and said it was made anonymously, without his consent.
It also accuses Instagram of refusing to remove the post, after counsel for the teacher delivered a defamation report to remove the statements from Victims Voices Regina.
Over the weekend, the creators of the page posted an announcement saying they were taking a step back due to recent legal action. Since then, that post along with the entire account appears to have been deleted.
The legal action is against Facebook, which owns Instagram, as well as the administrators of the page who have yet to be identified.
Fox also confirmed to Global News that the firm has been contacted by upwards of 12 other men who want to make similar claims.
Global News did reach out to Facebook who said it would not be commenting on the lawsuit in question.
Instead, pointing out that people can report content posted on its platforms that is believed to be defamatory under the law or otherwise violates their personal legal rights.
Global News has also attempted to contact the Victims Voices Regina administrators, but has not yet received a response.
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