HALDIMAND—Haldimand-Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis has filed a lawsuit against York University and Sean Rehaag, Director of the Centre of Refugee Law Laboratory at Osgoode Hall Law School.
Lewis is seeking more than $1.5 million in damages over comments she alleges were defamatory and malicious, made by Rehaag when she applied for a university position in 2021, prior to winning her seat in Haldimand-Norfolk in the 2021 federal election.
The Press obtained copies of the publicly available documentation from the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. Her allegations have not been proven in court.
According to her Statement of Claim, Lewis is seeking, among other things:
- General damages for defamation in the amount of $1 million
- Special damages in an amount to be determined at trial
- Aggravated damages in the amount of $250,000
- Punitive damages in the amount of $250,000
The statement lists Lewis’ educational history, including a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from York University (with a concentration in Business and Environment from the Schulich School of Business), and a Juris Doctor and PhD in Law from Osgoode Hall at York University.
It notes Lewis has focused her practice on criminal and refugee law, with a practice that has “advocated for members of the LGBTQ+2 community, with a specific focus on Jamaica (the country of her birth),” and an additional focus on cases of women fleeing domestic assault.
“This defamation and negligence claim arises from malicious statements published by Mr. Rehaag via email on or about March 8 and 9, 2021 … and the negligence of York University in failing to correct the record, in failing to circulate Dr. Lewis’ follow-up rebuttal as it stated it would, and permitted the defamatory string of Mr. Rehaag’s communications to fester despite knowledge that same were false, misleading, incomplete, and inaccurate,” read the statement.
Rehaag’s comments are detailed in the statement, including emails sent to three individuals, including the Dean of Osgoode Hall. The first, sent March 8, 2021, states Lewis takes “anti-LGBTQ positions,” while a second sent the following day accused Lewis of being “among the leading voices in Canada working against LGBTQ rights, … undermining the reproductive autonomy of women in Canada and around the world, … (and) deploying and defending anti-refugee rhetoric.”
Lewis claims that the university’s failure to publish her rebuttal to Rehaag’s comments to the Faculty Recruitment Committee led to her missing out on the sought-after job, a professorship offered to “qualified individuals who self-identify as Black peoples of African Descent.”
The statement described the role as “created in response to the racial awareness that emerged from the George Floyd murder, and the law school sought a law faculty member that also shared the lived-experience as a person of Black-African Descent who could continue to advance causes of racial equality and justice.”
Lewis claims Osgoode Hall had a “duty” to inform her of the nature of Rehaag’s comments ahead of a scheduled public forum on March 12, in which Rehaag repeated his comments in front of Lewis and others.
The statement alleges the comments were “false, and in a public, demeaning, spiteful, sensationalist, malicious, and destructive manner,” noting they caused “damage to her reputation and relationships,” both personally and professionally. She alleges those damages could also impact her future employment and income-generating prospects in academia.
In a statement to The Press, York University media relations spokesperson Yanni Dagonas said, “York University upholds equitable and inclusive recruitment processes that are grounded in established policies and procedures and that support fair consideration of candidates based on the requirements of the position.”
He continued, “Open inquiry, academic freedom, and the free exchange of ideas are fundamental to the University’s mission. York values and encourages differing perspectives, opinions and ways of knowing, and is committed to an environment in which robust and respectful debate can take place. As this matter is now before the courts, the University will not comment further.”
In the statement of defence, the defendants argue that Rehaag’s emails were sent “to express his view that consultations with equity-seeking stakeholder groups should be undertaken in the faculty recruitment process” after Lewis was invited to attend the March 12 forum as a short-listed candidate.
It argues that in his March 8 email, Rehaag was expressing his view that Lewis has “publicly taken anti-2SLGBTQ+ positions, including opposing legislation prohibiting so-called ‘gay conversion therapy’ and opposing the inclusion of gender identity and expression in human rights codes; his view that the plaintiff has publicly taken positions that many may find controversial and that some at Osgoode would likely view as antithetical to the equity and social justice aspirations of the law school and the Self-Identified Black Scholar position.”
In the March 9 email, Rehaag again listed his concerns with Lewis, adding further claims that Lewis had been “pushing back against Black Lives Matter, and engaging with extremist platforms like Rebel Media,” while recommending consultation with “students from equity seeking groups whose interests may be impacted by the public positions taken by the plaintiff.”
The statement described the March 12 forum, noting Lewis and Rehaag “had an exchange, lasting approximately nine minutes, in which Professor Rehaag showed three public video excerpts from media appearances featuring the plaintiff,” noting the videos covered topics related to immigration and border control matters.
It notes Lewis was asked two questions about the videos and given “full opportunity to respond to Professor Rehaag’s questions.”
Rehaag specifically denied an allegation by Lewis that he had told her people like her had no place at Osgoode and she was not welcome there.
The defendants also denied Lewis’ claims of malice, instead characterizing his actions as an attempt to meaningfully participate in the recruitment process.
It also states that the filling of the position was not impacted by any negligence on the university’s part, but rather, the position was simply “filled by the most qualified candidate. The plaintiff was not the most qualified candidate. The plaintiff was not offered the position.”
They deny Lewis has sustained damages from the matter, or that any damages were caused by fault, negligence, breach of duty, act, or omission by the defendants or any of their servants, agents, or employees. Finally, they pleaded the case be dismissed, with Lewis responsible for their legal costs.
In a follow-up reply to York’s statement of defence, Lewis accused the school of “gatekeeping” her candidacy.
Lewis also called Rehaag’s comments on March 12 not “relevant, foreseeable, or within the proper scope of a recruitment seminar,” while speaking of what she called a toxic culture of wokeism within the school.
“The true issue was not whether Dr. Lewis met the advertised qualifications, which she did, but whether her conservative political, philosophical, and Christian beliefs made her acceptable for a position created for a Black scholar,” read the reply.
The Press reached out to Lewis’ office for a comment on the statement and its claims.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on this issue, as it is a personal matter that is currently before the courts, which prevents MP Lewis from commenting publicly,” said a spokesperson for Lewis in an email.
The Press will provide updates on this case as they become available.
