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Originally posted by rusbro:
JBP on behalf of PragerU, on our education systems:
Link to original video: https://youtu.be/LquIQisaZFU

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'This is a warning': Jordan Peterson launches $1.5M defamation lawsuit against Wilfrid Laurier University


University of Toronto Professor Jordan Peterson has launched a $1.5-million defamation suit against Wilfrid Laurier University, two of its professors and a former gender and equity manager for suggesting he was “analogous to Adolf Hitler.”

The statement of claim, prepared by lawyer Howard Levitt and filed Monday, says Peterson was falsely labelled as incompetent, sexist, misogynist, dangerous and racist in a now infamous disciplinary meeting with Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd.

Shepherd was disciplined during the meeting for showing students a TV clip of Peterson discussing gender-neutral pronouns, something the university later apologized for, but Peterson told the Toronto Sun Wednesday he believes the university failed to properly respond to the incident.
Lindsay Shepherd speaks during a rally in support of freedom of expression at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo on Friday Nov. 24, 2017. (Dave Abel/Postmedia Network)

“So I think this is a warning, let’s say, to other careless administrators and professors who allow their ideological presuppositions to get the best of them to be a bit more careful with what they say and do,” he said.

Peterson’s lawyer said the U of T professor cannot allow a university to viciously slander him, let alone compare his comments to a speech by Hitler, when he has spent his life and career teaching against the evils of the Holocaust and despots.

“The politically correct on campus should not think that they can defame people, slander people and bully people implicitly and explicitly with impunity,” Levitt said. “This isn’t just some internet troll mouthing off in a way that no one pays attention to and doesn’t give any credence to. These are professors and head of gender equity studies making comments that are atrocious about Dr. Peterson who is one of if not Canada’s most prominent intellectual.”

In a statement, Wilfrid Laurier University said it will defend itself vigorously against the legal action.

“Laurier remains committed to intellectual inquiry, critical reflection, scholarly integrity, academic freedom and freedom of expression while striving to be a supportive and inclusive community,” the university statement says

Peterson’s statement of claim, which has not been proven in court, also names Professors Nathan Rambukkana and Herbert Pimlott along with Adria Joel, then the acting manager of gendered violence prevention and support but no longer with the university.

None of the three could be reached for comment.

Last November, Shepherd was ordered to a disciplinary meeting with Rambukkana, Pimlott and Joel after she showed her students a debate that aired on TVOntario featuring Peterson, a psychology professor who had criticized political correctness on university campuses and compelled use of genderless pronouns as an infringement on free speech and academic freedom.

Shepherd was told one of the students had complained she’d created a toxic environment for trans people, although the university later acknowledged there was no formal complaint.

Levitt, who also represents Shepherd in her $3.6-million lawsuit against Wilfrid Laurier University, said the teaching assistant was “castigated to tears” by the “political correctness police” for showing two sides of a debate in a neutral fashion.

Shepherd recorded the hour-long tirade and that audio posted online went viral.

The statement of claim identifies a long list of accusations made against Peterson in the meeting, alleging he helped target trans students and had no credible professional research.

“This has a significant impact on Peterson’s reputation among those with whom he deals, including fellow academics, future and existing students, the university where he works and those whom might read his books of listen to his lectures,” the statement of claim says. “Ironically, Peterson’s academic credentials are dramatically superior to those of either Professors Rambukkana or Pimlott.”

Peterson added, “We’ll see if two lawsuits make the point.”

Peterson is currently on a world speaking tour promoting his bestseller, 12 Rules for Life.

The Shepherd incident is one in a series that has prompted calls, including from Ontario Premier-designate Doug Ford, to tie post-secondary funding to freedom of speech.

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Originally posted by rusbro:
^^^ Maybe the suit has a chance in Canada. I can't imagine it would in the US.

I'm skeptical JBP really thinks people/organizations should be prosecuted for scurrilous claims made in private. My guess is he's just saying "if y'all mofos want a war over speech, I'll play. Slander me to your students at your own peril."

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I was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerous

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Originally posted by JALLEN:
In perusing the web, having viewed and enjoyed quite a few Peterson lectures, I ran across this.

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I was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerous

It’s a lengthy critique of Dr. Peterson, written by a former colleague and friend, appearing in what I think is a newspaper article.

Link

What do you think?

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He characterized them as left-wing conspiracies rooted in a “murderous” ideology — Marxism. Calling Marxism, a respectable political and philosophical tradition, “murderous” conflates it with the perversion of those ideas in Stalinist Russia and elsewhere where they were. That is like calling Christianity a murderous ideology because of the blood that was shed in its name during the Inquisition, the Crusades and the great wars of Europe. That is ridiculous.

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Originally posted by justjoe:
What seems to have triggered Bernard Schiff is that Peterson refused to use "gender neutral" pronouns, or to coddle the transgenders in other ways-- and Schiff's daughter is transgender. That is not hitting close to home, that is hitting home right in the crosshairs.

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Originally posted by DaveL:

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Originally posted by justjoe:
What seems to have triggered Bernard Schiff is that Peterson refused to use "gender neutral" pronouns, or to coddle the transgenders in other ways-- and Schiff's daughter is transgender. That is not hitting close to home, that is hitting home right in the crosshairs.

As I understand it he never refused to call anyone by a preferred pronoun, he openly opposed a law which required him to do so (compelled speech). Given all the attention he has received I think it's notable that no transgender person has claimed otherwise.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:

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Originally posted by DaveL:

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Originally posted by justjoe:
What seems to have triggered Bernard Schiff is that Peterson refused to use "gender neutral" pronouns, or to coddle the transgenders in other ways-- and Schiff's daughter is transgender. That is not hitting close to home, that is hitting home right in the crosshairs.

As I understand it he never refused to call anyone by a preferred pronoun, he openly opposed a law which required him to do so (compelled speech). Given all the attention he has received I think it's notable that no transgender person has claimed otherwise.

As I understand it, he isn’t opposed to accommodating someone, if he choses to, but refuses to be compelled against his will.

Freedom loving individuals with this attitude of “you can’t make me” cause these problems.

The collective always requires compulsion, no choice or only the allowed choices.