Scandalous, abuse of process; premier on lawsuit

Premier Brad Wall and former education minister Rob Norris are fighting back against allegations leveled at them by the former University of Saskatchewan president. In their statements of defense, lawyers for Wall and Norris describe the lawsuit as “scandalous, frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process.”

The statements say the politicians were acting within their authority.

Ilene Busch-Vishniac, was fired after controversy around the dismissal of a tenured professor. Robert Buckingham, who had been the dean of the U of S School of Public Health, was an outspoken opponent to cost-cutting TransformUS program.

She filed a lawsuit on June 3, seeking more than $8 million in damages. Along with the politicians, she she levels allegations at the U of S board of governors, Buckingham, and the former U of S president Peter MacKinnon and his wife, Janice.

Since Busch-Vishniac filed the suit, she has resigned her position as a professor at the university effective at the end of August.