University of Windsor student president sues for $100,000, settles for apology

Seeking $100,000 for defamation, the president of the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance has settled for an apology, according to a story in The Lance.

“The major concern for me was the publications through the Windsor Star and The Lance and the negative effects it could have on my future reputation because that’s something that’s so easily searchable on Google,” Kim Orr told the university newspaper. “I knew that I needed an apology,” she added.

The defamation of character lawsuit was filed against two senior members of the student government after they publicly alleged Orr had pocketed money from a splashy welcome-week concert in the fall that became a money-losing venture.

Board member Sami Habib and vice-president of finance Erik Pigeon championed a motion to impeach Orr amid the unproven allegations. Habib admitted at the time there was no evidence to suggest Orr had taken funds, but said her decision to allow people to enter the festival plaza directly after paying instead of standing in a second line to pick up a ticket made it impossible to verify whether all the money was properly accounted for.

The theft allegations led to an impeachment attempt at an emergency board meeting, but proponents failed to dislodge the president.

A statement of claim, filed Nov. 26, indicates Orr remitted all funds collected by herself and volunteers to Pigeon and UWSA accounting staff, according to The Lance.

The Sept. 5 waterfront concert featured big-name Swedish DJ Avicii and cost the students’ alliance $30,000 above the $210,000 in revenue it made.

The defamation suit was settled out of court. The claim, which names Pigeon, Habib and the UWSA as defendants, requested general and special damages in the sum of $50,000, and punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages in the sum of $50,000, as well as court costs totalling $750, The Lance reports.

Orr confirmed to The Lance that the settlement included the UWSA covering Orr’s legal fees, and Pigeon and Habib were also made to submit apology letters to her.

Orr told The Lance the $100,000 she was seeking “was sort of an amount to try and get them to settle out of court. It has to do with lost income potential from the idea that I could potentially not receive employment in the future because of the article and the slander they committed.”

dschmidt@windsorstar.com or 519-255-5586