Article content continued

The owner of the purse, a foreign student in Ottawa, reported it stolen from the Rideau Centre a few days later. The Ottawa police obtained surveillance video from the mall that showed the purse owner leaving it unattended on the bench.

After investigating, police uploaded a still image of Roy from the surveillance video and posted it to the Crime Stoppers website on April 6 with the caption “Ottawa: Purse Snatching in Downtown Mall.” The text read “on Saturday, March 19 at approximately 10 p.m. a female suspect stole a purse while walking through the Rideau Centre.” It went on to describe the purse and to request information. “If you know the identity of the suspects or other criminal activity call Crime Stoppers …”

The Crime Stoppers post was removed on April 15 after a legal representative for Roy sent a letter stating that the post was defamatory and demanded that it be removed.

According to motions filed by the defendants on May 15, Roy, who works as a support counsellor, was immediately suspended by her employer once her image was flagged on the Crime Stoppers website because it was thought she was “unsuitable for social work.” Her lawyer, Richard R. Marks, said she was subsequently fired when her doctor put her on medical leave. He said the impact on his client had been “traumatic” and Roy had suffered discrimination because of the incident. She will be seeking compensation.

Marks said Roy had gone to the Westin Hotel that night for a spa treatment and was being a Good Samaritan when she took the purse and passed it to a bus driver. There was no mall security around.