A former bylaw officer for the Town of Erin has filed a defamation suit against an Aurora man after he made alleged personal attacks on her character while she was working there.

Mandie Eddie, who worked as an Erin bylaw enforcement officer in 2018, held a similar role at the Town of Aurora from 2015 to 2018.

It was during her time there that she gave Aurora blogger Robert Lepp a ticket for letting his dogs run free at a park in June 2017, after the two dogs’ leashes got wrapped around her.

In the following months, Eddie said, she was the victim of a series of personal attacks made online and in correspondence sent to Aurora staff and council. Eddie is seeking $950,000 in damages.

The allegations contained in Eddie’s statement of claim have not been proven in court. According to court documents, Lepp has filed a statement of defence in which he denies all allegations.

The bylaw enforcement officer claims the attacks didn’t stop when she left her job in Aurora and came to Erin.

Lepp defended his position, arguing that this was a SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) lawsuit, which is considered a form of legal action where a person in a position of power is trying to silence his freedom of speech.

“Lepp argues that his communications were expressions about the public interest,” said Judge Lorne Sossin in a decision made on Nov. 15, 2019. “He asserts that as soon as she no longer had a public position in either Aurora or Erin, his posts about her ceased.”

Eddie has since left her position at the Town of Erin.

Sossin ruled that the case was not a SLAPP suit, dismissing the defendant’s argument and made no order on costs.

In November 2019, the judge dismissed the argument on the basis that Lepp’s attacks on Eddie’s character, honesty and mental health were personal in nature.

“The attempt out of the gate to shut down the litigation has failed,” said Gwendolyn Adrian, Eddie’s lawyer, adding that Lepp faces two other convictions for breach of recognizance and breach of probation for referencing Eddie in his blog.

Lepp alleged that Eddie called the police on him and had him arrested. He also claimed she lied about items on her resumé and said she was soliciting bribes in her position at the Town of Erin.

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“I find that they do not relate to matters of public interest,” Sossin ruled. “This litigation has all the hallmarks of a private dispute about alleged, private wrongs.”

The case is ongoing and will continue Friday in the Toronto courthouse at 393 University Ave.