A trio of Ontario nurses that have taken a strong public stand against COVID-19 mandates is seeking $1 million in a libel suit against the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and a B.C. media company..The statement of claim filed Dec. 13, 2021, in Toronto named four defendants including the CNA, CNA President Tim Guest, CNA CEO Michael Villeneuve, and Comox B.C.-based media company Together News Inc, according to the CBC..It alleges all defendants separately in September 2021 made defamatory statements against the plaintiffs while Canada-wide anti-lockdown demonstrations were held at hospitals..The suit also claims a news article resulted in them being subjected to “ridicule, hatred and contempt” and injured their “feelings, their personal and professional character and reputation.”.London neonatal intensive care nurse Kristen Nagle, along with nurse practitioner Kristal Pitter and practical nurse Sara Choujounian, both of Toronto, are members of Canadian Frontline Nurses, modelled after Global Frontline Nurses, that supports health care workers against lockdowns..All three nurses face, or have faced, disciplinary action for publicly sharing views about the pandemic..The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) has investigated all three nurses and warned them against expressing what it alleges is misinformation about COVID-19 on social media..Nagle, who worked at London Health Sciences Centre, was fired last January. She was charged with failing to heed Ontario’s emergency pandemic health restrictions in November 2020, then again in April 2021..Choujounian, formerly with a home-care agency, awaits a June CNO hearing. She faces charges of professional misconduct related to media posts claiming the pandemic is a hoax, vaccines aren’t safe, and masks increase the risk of cancer..Pitter, a former Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care nursing home inspector, was warned about spreading alleged COVID-19 misinformation on social media..The CNO investigated both Nagle and Choujounian for travelling to Washington during a non-essential travel ban last January to attend a rally where claims were made about hospitals having a role in misrepresenting the pandemic..The lawsuit alleges the CNA made defamatory statements against the nurses in an anonymous opinion article, Enough is enough: professional nurses stand for science-based health care, on its website Sept. 9, 2021..The article claimed, “the reckless views of a handful of discredited people who identify as nurses,” who “have aligned in some cases with angry crowds who are putting public health and safety at risk.”.The CNA called demonstrators at September hospital protests “surly mobs” who “harass, threaten, and even assault health-care workers coming and going in the business of saving lives.”.It didn’t name the plaintiffs, but the statement of claim alleges it was “intended” and “could be understood” to be referring to them and could be understood to mean they aren’t nurses, are anti-science and put public health and safety at risk..It also alleges the CNA “knows or ought to have known” statements made in the article were libel..Alexander Boissonneau-Lehner, the lawyer for the plaintiffs told the Western Standard it would be inappropriate for him to comment on a matter before the courts..Meanwhile, the statement of claim alleges Together News Inc, made defamatory statements in an anonymous highly charged September 11, 2021 article entitled “Quack! Quack! These pro-virus nurses have dangerous ideas.”.Together News Inc. has four Comox area newspapers..And in one story, the suit alleges the article resulted in the nurses being subjected to “ridicule, hatred and contempt” and injured their “feelings, their personal and professional character and reputation.”.It alleges that the article — which named Nagle, Choujounian and Pitter — portrayed them as “disgraced” and “highly disturbed and unstable” and called for their termination because they could not be trusted by their employers.The lawsuit claims the article suggests “Pitter was responsible for COVID deaths in long-term care facilities.”.And that it accused them of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest that led to an attack on the U.S. Capitol Building..Court documents allege the three nurses “continue to suffer personal embarrassment and humiliation and have experienced great emotional anxiety” because of the publications. .The plaintiffs are asking for $750,000 in general damages and $250,000 in punitive damages..Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.,.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
