The Penticton Festival Society is suing a previous director of its board over what it claims is defamation over statements posted to social media.
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 26 in 麻豆精选 Supreme Court, also alleges that at some point during Stephanie Mackenzie's five-year tenure as director, she changed the passwords and recovery methods for the society's email and social media accounts.
That discovery, shortly before what the lawsuit describes as a "breakdown" in the relationship between Mackenzie and the Society, appears to have led to the breakdown.
Starting in July of 2024 and continuing past Mackenzie's Oct. 17 resignation from the board, the Society claims it made multiple attempts to get the passwords from her to no avail, including through the Society's lawyer in 2025.
That request was delivered with further requests to stop posting on social media about the Society and the Penticton Elvis Festival, which they claim are defamatory.
The lawsuit notes that following the contact from the Society's lawyer, several of the posts and comments on social media were deleted, but then went on to list further comments that were not removed.
Some of the comments that were posted included text conversations Mackenzie had with other directors, and comments accusing one of the society's past executives of sexual impropriety, such as requesting nude pictures from her, and others alleging financial impropriety by other directors.
One of the comments cited in the lawsuit also alleges that Mackenzie had provided the passwords to the Society's president, that the board had the passwords, and that they had been the ones to change them.
The Society claims that Mackenzie has committed "reprehensible, spiteful, malicious and oppressive conduct" that implies or claims outright that the Society is corrupt, incompetent or conducts its business unethically or unprofessionally.
No response to the claims has been filed yet and none of the allegations have been proven in court.
