Ontario School Board Asks Court to Dismiss Defamation Case by Teacher Who Questioned Age-Appropriateness of Library Books

Carolyn Burjoski, a former Waterloo Region District School Board teacher, was ejected from a school board meeting in January 2022 after raising questions about the age-appropriateness of some books in elementary school libraries that deal with gender transition. Screenshot via The Epoch Times

An Ontario school board trying to stop a former teacher’s defamation lawsuit made its legal arguments before the Ontario Court of Appeal on Sept. 11.

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) board is appealing a November 2023 decision that allowed Carolyn Burjoski to move forward with her defamation lawsuit against the WRDSB and its former chair.

Carolyn Burjoski brought the lawsuit against the board and then-chair Scott Piatkowski after she was accused by Piatkowski of making “transphobic” comments in a 2022 school board discussion about the content of books in school libraries.

Burjoski had raised concerns about the age-appropriateness of some school library books when her time was cut short by Piatkowski, who said she was violating the Human Rights Code by questioning the content of the books.

According to court documents, at the time, Burjoski was discussing books available that she felt made it “seem simple or even cool to take puberty blockers and opposite sex hormones.”

Burjoski filed the defamation lawsuit against the board and its former chair in 2022. In September 2023, the school board filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but in a Nov. 23 decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice James Ramsay ruled against the board, saying the Human Rights Code “does not prohibit public discussion of anything.”

He also said Piatkowski’s characterization of Burjoski’s comments as transphobic and hateful was, in his opinion, defamatory.

The school board is appealing that ruling, and at the Sept. 11 hearing asked the court of appeal to throw out the case.

During the hearing, Burjoski’s team argued that Piatkowski’s description of her comments had been made in a vacuum where they couldn’t be verified by the public.

Attorney Hatim Kheir presented arguments on behalf of Our Duty Canada (ODC), a support group of parents whose children have had experience “transgender ideation.” ODC was granted intervener status in the case.

Kheir argued that a public debate about the transgender issue is currently taking place and that not every comment expressing skepticism should “be automatically characterized as despicable or pernicious by this court.”

LGBT activist group Egale Canada, which has also been given intervener status, argued that trans people are particularly marginalized, especially in school environments.

“Some of the most persistent stereotypes about trans persons relies on the idea that either question their genuine existence or suggest that their identity is not truly held. One such harmful stereotype is that trans people are confused,” Egale Canada’s attorney Douglas Montgomery said during the hearing.

The court will release its decision at a later date.

Courts Decline Judicial Review

In addition to her defamation lawsuit against the board and former chair, Burjoski had Ontario’s Divisional Court to rule on the board’s decision to stop her presentation.

On Nov. 29, the court said that the school board had been within its rights to halt the presentation.

In their decision, the three-judge panel said “it was reasonable” for Piatkowski to stop the presentation to keep order according to WRDSB bylaws and that school boards must be given a “high degree of deference.”

Burjoski has filed an appeal of that court decision.