MLJ Volume 36-1.pdf - Robson Hall Faculty of Law

280 MANITOBA LAW JOURNAL|VOLUME 36 ISSUE 1
supervised download of a plaintiff’s Facebook profile, the case was settled
out of court shortly after the ex-parte ruling was issued. 259
3. Income Assessment
In cases where the income of a party or their ability to work becomes
an issue (including bankruptcy suits, spousal support, or access to social
service benefits), social networks and particularly photographs may provide
probative and relevant information into the lifestyle an individual lives
and their access to financial resources. Vacation photographs or
participation in expensive activities may provide reasonable grounds for a
court to doubt the credibility of claims related to poverty, financial
hardship and inability to work.
For example, a BC court refused to discharge a man from bankruptcy
and debts to a former girlfriend after his creditors introduced photographs
from his Facebook account showing him at an expensive social club on
numerous occasions. 260 A judge rejected a father’s attempts to reduce his
child support obligations, finding that Facebook photographs depicting
him on a motorcycle and his girlfriend skydiving contradicted his claims of
financial hardship. 261 In Cikojevic v Timm, the Master rejected an earlier
motion by the plaintiff to get an advance on damages after the admission
of numerous photographs from her Facebook account demonstrated her
ability to afford activities such as snowboarding and golf. 262 An Ontario
court, on the other hand, rejected a former husband’s attempt to end
spousal support because he felt his wife could afford to vacation in Paris
and Cancun. 263
In addition, social networking evidence has been used to challenge an
individual’s credibility regarding their ability to work. A court rejected a
father’s contention that he was not capable of working due to medical
259
“Facebook photo seizure settlement reached” CBC News (1 March 2011), online: CBC
News .
260
Jabs, Re, 2010 BCSC 1325 (available on WL Can).
261
Kolodziejczyk v Kozanski, 2011 ONCJ 6 (available on WL Can).
262
2008 BCSC 74 at para 47 (available on WL Can).
263
Vacaru v Vacaru, 2010 ONSC 7020 (available on WL Can). The wife had clicked a
‘like’ button on Facebook that indicated she wanted to visit those destinations despite
her relative financial inabilities. This is very different from uploading photographs of
her actually vacationing.