Bankrupt Chelsea Hillier ordered to pay up for defamation

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A judge has ruled that declaring bankruptcy doesn’t let Chelsea Hillier off the hook for the more than $100,000 she owes in damages and legal costs for defaming a former friend online.

In a June 19 decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Stanley J. Kershman wrote that $85,000 in damages plus additional legal fees Hillier had been ordered to pay Esther Post couldn’t be erased by simply declaring bankruptcy. Tweets posted by Hillier in 2021 on her “weaponized” Twitter account had caused “bodily harm, intentionally inflicted” to Post, the judge ruled.

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At the hearing, Post’s lawyer, David Shiller, successfully argued that “bodily harmed” included the psychological harm Post had endured from the online harassment.

“Bankruptcy laws are meant to protect the honest, but unfortunate debtor, someone who goes into business and it just doesn’t work out,” Shiller said.

“But too often it’s used by people to get out of their obligations that they shouldn’t get out of. In this case, it’s fitting that Chelsea isn’t allowed to escape her obligation.”

Hillier, the daughter of former MPP Randy Hillier, was found guilty of defamation in June 2022 for a series of posts on Twitter (now known as X) in which she falsely accused Post, then a sessional lecturer at Carleton University, of drugging and sleeping with her students.

The two women had known each other since 2008, when Post was Hillier’s instructor at Carleton, and they became close friends. Post even invited Hillier to her wedding. But the two fell out over Hillier’s increasingly strident views on the COVID-19 pandemic, which echoed those of her father. Some of Hillier’s defamatory tweets included photos from Post’s wedding that were tagged to spread them online as far as possible.

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When Hillier refused to remove the tweets, Post sued.

In finding Hillier guilty of defamation on June 24, 2022, Justice Sally Gomery said Hillier “displayed contempt not only for Ms. Post, but for the idea that she is obliged to respect the norms of civilized behaviour observed by other members of society.”

“Ms. Hillier’s obvious glee at the damage she was causing to a former friend is both sad and outrageous,” Gomery wrote “She weaponized her Twitter accounts for vengeful and vindictive behaviour.”

The judge later ordered Hillier to pay $85,000 in damages and another $12,485 for Post’s legal costs.

Hillier declared bankruptcy four weeks later, on July 21, 2022.

But her legal woes weren’t over. In September 2022, she was found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring Gomery’s order to remove the false tweets. At that hearing, Superior Court Justice Narissa Somji sentenced Hillier to 75 days house arrest for contempt and ordered her to pay Post another $16,115 in court costs. Since that cost was imposed after Hiller declared bankruptcy, it, too, stands to be paid.

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At the time of her bankruptcy, Hiller said she was 39, unemployed and the mother of two children under the age of 17. She had previously run a merchandizing business called No More Lockdowns. She is now living in Sudbury.

So far “not a single penny has been paid” to Post, Shiller said.

While Kershman’s ruling gives Post the right to pursue the money, it’s up to her to do it. Once a year, she is allowed to have Hillier appear for “an examination in aid of execution” where Hillier has to provide her bank statements, income tax return and disclose any assets and say if and where she is working. Post will have the right to garnish up to 20 per cent of Hillier’s wages.

“This is a judgment that will hang over Chelsea’s head for the rest of her life unless she pays it,” Shiller said. “If she acquires any assets or saves any money, it’s going to be subject to execution.”

Post and Hillier could also agree to an out-of-court settlement, he said.

Reached Friday, Post called Hillier’s filing for bankruptcy so soon after Gomery’s found her guilty of defamation “a slap in the face.”

“I never ever wanted nor expected to receive any money from her,” Post said. “But I never could have predicted or anticipated that she would be in contempt of the judge’s orders for several months and that her ongoing contempt would be what added so significantly to my legal fees.”

Post said she would be satisfied if Hillier would reimburse her for her legal bills, which total $54,000.

“It comes down to whether Chelsea wants to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder,” Shiller said. “Or does she want to pay it out and start fresh.”

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