³Ô¹ÏÍø

Aug. 31, 2018

³Ô¹ÏÍø has served and filed a Statement of Defence in response to a lawsuit initiated by Jordan Peterson. As previously stated, the university intends to vigorously defend itself against this lawsuit.

The university would like to highlight several points in the Statement of Defence. First, the university and co-defendants were not responsible for creating or releasing the audio recording mentioned in the Peterson claim. Second, Peterson publicly acknowledged in a Maclean’s magazine interview that he had prior knowledge that the audio recording would be released to the news media. And third, Peterson launched his lawsuit for the stated purpose of causing academics and administrators to be more circumspect in their choice of words and that the lawsuit is being used as a means of unduly limiting expression on matters of public interest, including gender identity. 

The university’s Statement of Defence has been filed on behalf of the university and former staff member Adria Joel, who was employed on a limited-term contract. The co-defendants Nathan Rambukkana and H. F. Pimlott are represented by separate counsel and will file their own Statement of Defence. 

The university will file a separate Statement of Defence in relation to a lawsuit initiated by Lindsay Shepherd (this process has been delayed by procedural issues that are currently being addressed).