He was jailed, forbidden from using the internet, subjected to a multi-year legal nightmare, left with a six-figure legal fee, and made a target of aggression for rabid feminists worldwide.
Just kidding, but seriously, this kind of accusation has really terrible ramifications for the accused even if they're cleared. There really needs to be consequences for frivolous accusations to prevent things like this.
Yeah. For this kind of thing the process is the punishment. It should have been quashed at the outset by the first judge, leaving him out $500 or so in attorney's fees.
"He had more problems than a charge of criminal harassment. According to Gregory Elliott’s son, Clayton, the Canadian courts initially sought to detain him for the duration of his trial. This would have seen him jailed for more than three years.
Eventually, the Crown was persuaded to grant bail, although, as part of his bail conditions, Elliott was prohibited from using “the internet and any device with access to the internet.” A graphics designer by trade, this was crippling to his career. Before he even had a chance to figure out how to continue doing his job of 17 years with these restrictive bail conditions, he was fired without cause. Forced to withdraw his pension early, the 55-year old father of four has spent more than $50,000 in legal fees, and still owes a further $40,000."
Also they falsely accused him as pedophile (while they knew he was not guilty for what they were accusing him).
The briefs and the decision themselves are also worthwhile to read, here's the decision: http://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2016/2016oncj35/2016onc... Interestingly, there are a few mistakes regarding how twitter functions, and a tweet was falsely attributed to Elliot. This was noticed by the blogger over at genuinewitty.com, which also has more depth and detail in its research and coverage of the case (also essential reading, IMO).
Ellen Pao never claimed sexual harassment. She claimed workplace discrimination because of her gender. Being discriminated against after breaking off an affair is common. Think of how much most people like their exs. However, according to my lawyer friend, Pao had zero chance of legal victory.