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Defamation suit against gay men settled out of court
Disputes between Pointe Claire neighbours date back to 2001
JAN RAVENSBERGEN
The Gazette
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A defamation lawsuit by a Pointe Claire man seeking $400,000 in damages
from two gay neighbours - following events that drew massive media
coverage beginning in 2001 - has been settled on the eve of a civil
trial.
Proceedings had been scheduled to begin yesterday morning before Justice Robert Mongeon in Quebec Superior Court .
Robert Walker and his wife, Norah Litchfield, had become entangled in a
variety of legal actions involving Theo Wouters and Roger Thibault,
longtime neighbours on Parkdale Ave.
Rosalia Giarratano, the lawyer for Walker and Litchfield, did not return phone
calls seeking details of the out-of-court settlement.
Neither did Richard Ouellette, the lawyer representing Wouters and Thibault.
Walker and Litchfield launched their lawsuit in late 2003, about a year after
Walker was acquitted in Quebec Court on a charge of harassing Wouters
and Thibault, the first gay couple to take advantage of Quebec's
civil-union law.
According to the statement of claim from Walker
and Litchfield, Wouters and Thibault falsely accused Walker and
Litchfield of homophobia and organized demonstrations against the two -
including one that drew an estimated 4,000 protest marchers to the
usually tranquil West Island suburb on a Sunday in May 2001.
The lawsuit also alleged the couple made scurrilous remarks of a sexual
nature about Walker and his family and constantly or frequently
videotaped them since 2000.