{"id":918759,"date":"2026-10-03T06:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T06:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/918759\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T06:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T06:38:19","slug":"judge-awards-neustaeter-costs-damages-after-victory-in-hamer-jackson-defamation-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/918759\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge awards Neustaeter costs, damages after victory in Hamer-Jackson defamation suit"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 17, 2023, all eight Kamloops city councillors held a press conference <\/a>in response to changes made by Hamer-Jackson to committee structures among other issues.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we as councillors have been subjected to repeated disrespect, violations of personal and professional boundaries, belittling and constantly disruptive behavior by the mayor,\u201d said Neustaeter in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That quote read by\u00a0Neustaeter served as the basis for one of four claims of defamation by Hamer-Jackson struck down earlier this year.\u00a0The three other dismissed claims were tied to workplace emails and a strategic planning session held behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to very clear about this \u2013 I filed for damages to make an undeniable statement. The family members of elected officials should never be leveraged or manipulated for political benefit,\u201d said Neustaeter on Friday. \u201cIn my case, this was a very vulnerable family member who is also a senior.\u201d<\/p>\n

The councillor was referring to her father, former MLA Kevin Krueger, who is living with dementia. Hamer-Jackson and Krueger were in contact early in the term, in spite of Neustaeter\u2019s pleas for the mayor not to involve her father in council-related discussions.<\/p>\n

Neustaeter was awarded full costs and $5,000 in damages associated with the case, a first in British Columbia for a case involving politicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only precedent that existed \u2013 and not in B.C., where this has never happened before \u2013 was a $10,000 application, so we used that as a guideline,\u201d explained Neustaeter. \u201cBut to me the dollar amount was absolutely negligible. It was about making a point and it was about ensuring it was enough that people will think twice before they engage in this kind of behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neustaeter had been indemnified by the city, meaning city taxpayer dollars were used to finance her defense. With Friday\u2019s decision, the city will be reimbursed by Hamer-Jackson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are still steps to be taken in determining that exact amount. My understanding is that it is well upward of $250,000, and we will have to wait for the official number, but that is the one that I\u2019m comfortable saying at this time,\u201d responded Neustaeter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reached on the phone, Hamer-Jackson called the decision \u201cunbelievable\u201d, saying he hadn\u2019t yet seen it and is working on an appeal. He did not make himself available for an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my mind, this is done. The judge was incredibly clear \u2013 it is based in fact and evidence and knowledge of the law,\u201d added Neustaeter. \u201cAnd I think he would be wise to stop where he is and face the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

With both Neustaeter, for council, and Hamer-Jackson, for mayor, on the ballot for another term at Kamloops city hall, Neustaeter was asked if she would be able to work with Hamer-Jackson for another four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have more confidence in the public than that,\u201d said Neustaeter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On March 17, 2023, all eight Kamloops city councillors held a press conference in response to changes made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-918759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}