Court Allows BC Novelist to Launch Defamation Suit Against Woman Who Accused Him of Rape

Students walk past the UBC sign at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, in a file photo. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

Novelist and former University of British Columbia professor Steven Galloway has won a years-long battle to have his defamation lawsuit proceed against a woman who says he sexually assaulted her, an allegation he denies.

The case at the B.C. Court of Appeal was a high-profile test of laws in B.C., Ontario and Quebec that aim to protect people from so-called SLAPP suits, or strategic lawsuits against public participation.