Ilene Busch-Vishniac, former University of Saskatchewan president, has launched an $8-million lawsuit against the school, its Board of Governors and Premier Brad Wall for breach of contract and defamation
The former president of the University of Saskatchewan is suing the school for $8.5-million, alleging that her termination last year has damaged her reputation and made it impossible to find another senior position.
Her suit names the university's board of governors, Premier Brad Wall, and Rob Norris, who was advanced education minister at the time. In the suit, Ilene Busch-Vishniac outlines the events that led to the firing of Robert Buckingham as dean of the School of Public Health, and her own dismissal less than two weeks later.
The school released a statement saying it will fight the suit.
"The university has fully complied with its legal obligations towards the former president …," board of governors chair Greg Smith said. "We have instructed our counsel to challenge the claim in the strongest possible way."
Dr. Buckingham was fired after he released a letter called The Silence of the Deans in May, 2014. The letter criticized a budget-cutting process the school had undertaken, and denounced what Dr. Buckingham said was a gag order on raising concerns publicly. An international outcry followed his termination, which many supporters saw as an infringement on his academic freedom.
The suit alleges that before the controversy, Dr. Buckingham had been the subject of "numerous faculty, staff and student complaints in relation to [his] conduct" that were unrelated to TransformUS, the budget reorganization plan.
Approximately two weeks before Dr. Buckingham released his letter, Dr. Busch-Vishniac had told members of the board of governors that "serious personnel issues … might require removing him from his position," the lawsuit states. Dr. Buckingham could not be reached for comment.
Before the Buckingham controversy, the president had received good reviews on her job performance and had just been awarded a bonus of 10 per cent of her salary of $400,000 a year.
The suit also alleges that Mr. Wall and Mr. Norris improperly interfered in the running of the university by asking for, and attending, board of governors meetings.
"The Minister and the Premier were directly involved in the decision to terminate Dr. Busch-Vishniac and pressured the Board to terminate her," the suit states.
Mr. Wall's office issued a statement in response.
"Premier Wall is confident that the actions taken by himself and by former Minister Norris during this series of events were completely appropriate and in the best interests of the university and the province," the statement said.
Dr. Busch-Vishniac remained at the university as a mechanical engineering professor after her firing as president, and is working in an environment the suit calls "poisonous."
It "has become eminently clear that, as a result of the wrongful actions of the Defendants, it will be impossible for her to obtain employment in her field of expertise. She has become effectively unemployable as a senior executive in a university or other setting," the lawsuit says.
A university search committee has been conducting a search and will announce a new president later this summer.