Subway Ordered to Pay CBC in Failed Defamation Lawsuit

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered Subway to pay the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) $500,000 in legal fees after its defamation lawsuit against the public broadcaster failed.

Subway filed the $210 million defamation lawsuit against the CBC following a February 2017 “Marketplace” report on the amount of chicken contained in the sandwich chain’s chicken sandwiches.

Subway accused the CBC of acting “recklessly and maliciously” in its “Marketplace” report that claimed that DNA tests suggested some chicken products sold at Subway may only contain 50 percent chicken. The report suggested there were high levels of soy in the chicken products.

According to Subway, the tests conducted on its chicken products were conducted and interpreted by people who did not have adequate training.

The “Marketplace” report was broadcast on television and an online story was published shortly thereafter. The CBC also reportedly sent several tweets about the report.

In the defamation lawsuit Subway said the report was misleading and noted that its own analysis of its chicken products found only trace amounts of soy. The CBC says the DNA tests for the report were conducted by independent and credible researchers.

The sandwich chain sought $210 million for the damage to its brand and reputation that it suffered after the CBC broadcast.

In November, Ontario Superior Court Justice Ed Morgan dismissed the defamation lawsuit based on anti-SLAPP laws that protect free speech as it pertains to matters of public interest.

SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuit against public participation” and refers to lawsuits that are filed with the purpose of censoring certain information instead of seeking a legal remedy. The judge found that the CBC report involved a matter of public interest, shifting the burden of proof to Subway to show that the CBC lacked a valid defense.

“Its materials were overwhelmingly aimed at the issue of truth in the news magazine item that was the subject of the suit — an issue which goes to the heart of the merits of Subway’s defamation claim, but is only relevant in a minor way to the SLAPP criteria,” Judge Morgan said.

“The motion turned into a massive undertaking to which CBC, as moving party, was compelled to reply.”

Litigating the Subway defamation lawsuit took a “herculean lawyering effort” resulting in a “monument to high-end legal work,” Judge Morgan said. Throughout this legal fight, the CBC incurred about $800,000 in legal fees to take on the anti-SLAPP motion.

Judge Morgan ordered Subway to pay $500,000 for CBC’s legal costs and another $178,000 in fees and disbursements.

In November, Judge Morgan allowed Subway to continue in a lawsuit alleging negligence against Trent University, which reportedly performed laboratory work for the “Marketplace” segment about Subway’s chicken sandwiches.

In that case, Judge Morgan ordered Trent University to pay Subway $220,000.

What do you think about the ruling in this Subway defamation lawsuit? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!

The plaintiff is represented by William McDowell, Sana Halwani, Paul-Eric Veel, and Kaitlin Soye.

The Subway defamation lawsuit is Subway v. CBC, et al., Case No. CV-17-571237, in the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario, Canada. 

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