Ruling in Senators cyberbullying case
TORONTO A judge has denied a request by the fiancee of former Ottawa Senators winger Mike Hoffman to see evidence related to allegations that she harassed and cyberbullied the wife of the team’s former captain.
Melinda Karlsson, who is married to former captain Erik Karlsson, filed an order of protection against Hoffman’s fiancee in May, claiming Monika Caryk had posted over 1,000 “negative and derogatory” comments about her on social media.
Karlsson had given birth to a stillborn child in March and said she and her husband were subject to trolling posts on social media and an anonymous gossip website.
Caryk has denied she posted the comments and sought in a Toronto court to see the evidence Karlsson had allegedly linking her to the posts.
The judge said the information Caryk seeks is best obtained from the websites and service providers where the posts occurred rather than from Karlsson.
The Senators have since traded both players.
“The interests of justice will not be well served by a granting of the order sought,” wrote Justice Anne Mullins.
Hoffman was traded to the San Jose Sharks shortly after the allegations became public and he was then flipped immediately to the Florida Panthers.
The Senators dealt Erik Karlsson to the Sharks two weeks ago.
Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said at the time his team had to move Hoffman because their dressing room was “broken.”
According to court documents, Caryk said she was once friends with Karlsson, but seemed to fall out of favour, noticing fewer likes on Instagram and Facebook.
She said she may have made “unflattering observations about the Karlssons,” although she blamed it on being intoxicated and others twisting her words.
Shortly after the Karlssons’ child died, Caryk said she received texts and emails from the wives of four women who accused her of harassing and bullying Melinda Karlsson online, the documents said.
Caryk said she brought her evidence-seeking request to court to try to get more information in her efforts to track down who made those derogatory comments.
The judge noted there is no evidence that Caryk made those comments.
The order of protection, or peace bond, filed by Melinda Karlsson was never served on Caryk and has since expired and the court file has been sealed.