‘Hell is an understatement:’ University instructor details defamation case against daughter of former MPP

The daughter of Randy Hillier, the controversial former MPP who has protested against COVID-19 vaccines and lockdowns, has been ordered to pay a Carleton University Instructor close to $100,000 in damages for defamation.

The judge called her tweets a malicious campaign to bully the instructor with false accusations.

In an exclusive one-on-one interview, Esther Post told CityNews about the defamation case she filed against Chelsea Hillier and won. But the fight still isn’t over yet.

“It’s been causing me a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress, lots of tears,” Post shared. “I was a mess. I truly was not functioning for several days I was sobbing, crying. I was having constant panic attacks because it was relentless.”

Post has been an English instructor at Carleton University since 2003. She met Hillier in 2008 and taught her as a graduate student, later becoming friends. The two were once so close that Hillier was a bridesmaid in Post’s wedding eight years ago.

Political differences during the COVID-19 pandemic ended their friendship as Hillier ran for MP under Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada and then again as an MPP last month for the Populist Party of Ontario. She lost both elections.

In 2021, Post criticized Randy and Chelsea Hillier on Twitter for holding anti-vaccine mandate protests outside hospitals and retweeted a thread critical of their rhetoric.

Chelsae Hillier first sent a tweet to Post with a warning in Nov. of 2021 telling her to lay off her father or “This is coming.”

“This” was a flood of tweets from Hillier’s account, describing Post as a violent white nationalist while sharing her wedding photos, calling her a gaslighter and an abuser. But the worst allegation was one that could ruin her career:

“I hate repeating the allegations but they’re out there now, that I have been drugging students and have been sleeping with students in parking lots. And then she just did not stop,” detailed Post.

Hillier also tagged Carleton University in one of her tweets, and that’s when the trolls began to come out.

A tweet from Chelsea Hillier’s twitter account before it was suspended. Photo credit: Esther Post

“I had many of her followers calling for me to be criminally investigated. I was told I was a pedophile,” said Post. “It was horrible, just horrible lies to read about yourself.”

“Not only was she sending out tweets, I would say every 20 minutes, but then it would be eight or 10 responses to each tweet from these trolls comparing me to violent criminals. It’s overwhelming,” explained Post. “I think everyone’s had to deal with trolls at some level. But I certainly never dealt with that level of vitriol.”

Hillier’s first Twitter account was suspended after Post reported the tweets. But she continued to post under a new Twitter handle.

“Being called a violent white nationalist, that’s one thing that I really could have just ignored and laughed at. It was ridiculous, but really serious allegations that were incredibly damaging to not only my personal reputation, but my professional reputation, I have to fight back against that, I absolutely have to.”

Post went to the police for help but was told she had to file a civil defamation lawsuit which could cost her thousands of dollars in legal fees. When she threatened Hillier with the suit, she was mocked on Twitter.

A tweet from Chelsea Hillier’s twitter account before it was suspended. Photo credit: Esther Post

Post filed the suit in December of 2021. Hillier did not file a statement of defense, which led to a default judgement.

Just over two weeks ago, Justice Sally Gomery released a scathing ruling against Hillier, saying her tweet campaign was “motivated by malice” in an effort to “bully [Post] into silence” and that she “weaponized her Twitter accounts for vengeful and vindictive behaviour.”

Hillier was ordered to pay Post a total of $97,483, which includes $75,000 in general and aggravated damages and another $10,000 for punitive damages.

“Ms. Hillier’s obvious glee at the damage she was causing to a former friend is both sad and outrageous. She weaponized her Twitter accounts for vengeful and vindictive behaviour,” read the judgement from Gomery. “I am particularly disturbed by her repeated publication of Ms. Post’s wedding photos alongside her untrue and libellous statements, her use of tagging to disseminate her statements as widely as possible, and her leveraging of personal information obtained in confidence from a former friend.”

Post said she felt “incredibly vindicated” by the judgement and said she believed her reputation had been restored by the words of this judge.

But that joy was short-lived. Even though Hillier was ordered to post a retraction and remove all social media comments about Post and never write about her again, she instead tweeted new allegations about her former friend.

“The same allegations, this time with more details now, accusing me of feeding her prescription medication on multiple occasions, which was never part of the original claim,” said Post.

Post was told she had to file a motion of contempt, adding to her legal fees which now stand at about $25,000. Post has been able to raise just over $10,000 through a GoFundMe.

“It’s frustrating that this is how the legal system has been set up that you have to fight to have your name cleared,” she said. “This is an enormous financial burden. The financial stress of it alone has been one of the worst parts for sure. You’re worrying every day and I’m budgeting down to the dollar for every month.”

Post doesn’t ever expect to see any of the $97,000 Hillier has been ordered to pay her. She tells CityNews it was never about the money, it was about clearing her name and getting vindication.

“Money has never been what I’m after. I wanted the retraction. I wanted the admission that these are lies, and she has been ordered to do that now. We’ll see if she chooses to follow that order or not,” explained Post.

And Post said she won’t stop calling out what she says is, “dangerous rhetoric.”

“I was calling out what I saw as incredibly dangerous rhetoric that was being spewed,” said Post. “It was quite alarming to me.”

“She was very literally trying to bully me into silence. I don’t know what else it is but I will not be bullied into silence and I’m going to use my voice and I think it’s one of the most empowering things. I will continue to do so.”

Post added despite all the allegations, she’s been supported by the university.

“I’ve had tremendous support from the university, so many different levels and departments,” explained Post. “My [department] chair was aware of it with all of them. I never felt that I had to defend myself because I knew that this completely outrageous allegations.”

Because Hillier has not followed the court ruling to post a retraction and remove all social media content about Post, she could be found in contempt, which means, in a worst-case scenario, she could go to jail.

CityNews reached out to Hillier to give her a chance to respond to the ruling but has yet to receive a response.