Jury finds 2 women guilty of defaming Dawson City couple
Two Yukon woman have been found guilty of defaming a Dawson City couple, and a six-person jury has awarded the couple —Michael and Angela Senft — $809,000 in damages.
The Senfts sued Audrey Vigneau and Susan Hermann, claiming their reputations had been "irreparably harmed" by letters and internet postings the women had made.
The women claimed they were speaking out on behalf of their friend, Dawson senior Daniele McRae, who was embroiled in a lengthy court battle with the Senfts over the ownership of her home.
McRae had gifted the Senfts partial title to the home, but later claimed she had been duped.
The Senfts went to civil court in November 2017 to sue for access to the home.
In March 2018, the court ruled in favour of the Senfts, and the case was dismissed with the consent of both parties.
Court documents state all parties agreed that Angela and Michael Senft "continue to be registered owners ... and are entitled to possession of the lands and premises."
The documents also said that legal title to the house was transferred "by way of gift."
The Senfts then sued McRae's friends, Audrey Vigneau and Susan Hermann, for defamation.
Vigneau and Hermann both admitted to having written posts on Facebook supporting McRae's defence, and being involved in a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for McRae.
In a statement of claim, the Senfts said Hermann also mailed letters "to all persons having mailboxes in the Dawson office," which caused the couple's reputations "irreparable harm."
The Senfts say the posts and letters included terms such as "wrong people," "ulterior motives," "untrustworthy," "abusive" and "unfair."
Vigneau and Hermann later deleted their posts and apologized on Facebook.
In a post from Jan. 2018, Vigneau said her "strongly-worded" statements about the Senfts were based on sympathy for McRae.
"As a person with 70 years of life experience, I should know there are two sides to every story. Regrettably, I was very critical in my write-up and said things that I realized I ought not to have said," she wrote.
