Facebook lost a bid for $50 million BC. A lawsuit from an alleged fraudster over a "spoofed page" using his name and likeness.
Vancouver Island resident Timothy Craig Durkin filed a lawsuit against his media giant Social in the summer of 2020, after months of trying to get admins to delete his phone account. claimed to have been unsuccessful.
In response, Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms Inc., filed an application in British Columbia. The Supreme Court filed the claim as an abuse of procedure.
Last week, Judge John Steves refused to strike on file, saying that despite Durkin's checked legal past, he was "evasive, belligerent, and willfully vague or dishonest" in the case.
"I find that the claim fails to disclose a reasonable claim, is unnecessary, scandalous, frivolous or irritating, and is subject to a fair trial or hearing.
is an abuse of court procedure.” Steeves stated in his judgment that:
, but at this stage we cannot conclude that it will definitely fail.
Durkin was represented in court, and the judge found many problems with his current notice of claim. Steves said he could not proceed in its current form and told Durkin to revise his allegations of negligence against the social media company to include more specifics.
Long legal history in BC.
Facebook has dismissed the Durkin lawsuit in part because of its "history of willful and willful violations of the rules and orders of this court in connection with other lawsuits."
Indeed, Durkin's name has been in the news repeatedly in recent years as he has been embroiled in a flurry of cases in civil and criminal courts and has become entangled in securities litigation proceedings.
He is best known for his six-year legal battle over ownership of the famous Sooke Harbor House Hotel.
In 2020, a judge upheld Frederick and Sinclair Philippe,giving them 400 in their fight to seize control. awarded
of the hotel from Durkin and his partner Roger Gregory.In a scathing ruling, the judge described Durkin as "a run-of-the-mill bully" who was "utterly unhindered by the norms of common morality, integrity and decency" and accused Durkin of lying. affidavit of obtaining an injunction to keep Phillips out of the hotel.
Unfortunately, when Phillips finally won, the hotel had already been sold during the foreclosure proceedings.
The BC Securities Commission alleges that Durkin sold false ownership of the hotel to defraud investors of his $1 million. The results of the investigation into the incident are expected to be announced this fall.
Durkin also recently lost a defamation lawsuit against Victoria-based online publication The Capital Daily."The man who stole the hotel: How Timothy Durkin took control of Sooke Harbor House."
Judge , in of that incident, determined that Marlan's work was "a long-form work of high quality."
South of the border, Durkin would have a chilling effect on media investigations in the public interest. 65} accused of running a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme in Alabama. He denies his involvement in or knowledge of his fraud.
In the Facebook case, the "spoof" account appears to have been set up to troll Durkin in connection with Ponzi's scheme. It included a profile picture of Durkin's face and a cover photo of him in handcuffs.
Durkin claims that he and others reported the page's existence through his form online for non-Facebook users, but with a message stating there was a problem. , stating that they are "working on a fix". as soon as. ''
Durkin claimed similar responses over the following month, according to the lawsuit, and eventually he sent a letter to Facebook Canada requesting that "the spoofed page be removed from social media." sent to his director.
According to Steves' judgment, Durkin claimed the page was removed after his CBC article about his lawsuit againstFacebook was published. say.
