THUNDER BAY – Keith Hobbs has filed suit over the posting of a video online. The libel action has been filed with the Ontario Superior Court against Sandy Zaitzeff and Heli Kijanen.
Hobb’s case alleges that Zaitzeff and Kijanen posted a video of the Mayor Hobbs with the local lawyer as an attempt to destroy his professional reputation. The posting of the video has led to a number of issues that the Mayor has had to deal with since it was first posted.
The legal action has been filed under the Libel and Slander Act. The legal action is not coming out of the City of Thunder Bay legal department but is a personal action filed by Keith Hobbs.
Sources tell NNL that it is very likely that other individuals may also face a law suit over the posting of the video on Youtube.
The law suit alleges that the video which appears to have been taken with a smartphone was made on October 25th, 2016.
The suit says that the video was posted online only after Mayor Hobbs brought forward sexual impropriety allegations against Sandy Zaitzeff to Thunder Bay Police.
The case against Sandy Zaitzeff is under a publication ban to protect the names of the individuals. The Law Society of Upper Canada has suspended the law licence of Zaitzeff pending resolution of the charges against the Thunder Bay lawyer, which include a number of sexual offences involving a victim under the age of sixteen.
Further there are also four other assault charges against Zaitzeff.
The lawyer has remained in custody under consent since the charges were filed, and has a court appearance later today.
Developing story…
