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| Michael Rosenberg (left) Alex Werzberger and Pierre Lacerte (right) |
A judge in Canada, has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Haredi Jews against a man, who constantly bashes them on his blog.
Three Haredi Jewish leaders and business people in Outremont, brought a lawsuit against blogger Pierre Lacerte, who constantly writes negative articles about them. He also photoshopped images to mock them.
The haredi Jews sued Lacerte, claiming that he was unfairly targeting them, ridiculing them, and damaging their reputations.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a father and son, real estate developers Michael and Martin Rosenberg, Hasidic spokesperson Alex Werzberger, and Michael Rosenberg, who is president and CEO of the Rosdev Group.
They were seeking $375,000 in damages, as Lacerte was ruining their reputation and causing them stress.
The men told the court that Lacerte, who lives across the street from an ultra-Orthodox Jewish synagogue, constantly harasses the Hasidic community and especially its leaders.
However, the judge ruled that the ultra-Orthodox Jews had not brought enough evidence to show that they had suffered damage or stress.
The judge also cleared Lacerte of the racism and discrimination claims.
Judge Claude Dallaire ruled that criticism and parodies of community leaders and public figures, is allowed due to freedom of expression.
Lacerte, who had recently lost an election to a Hasidic woman, said he has no problem with the Hasidic community at large, but rather with certain leaders.