In an extremely rare move, York University is pursuing libel action against Toronto Life after the magazine ran an article in its October issue characterizing York’s campus as “a hunting ground for sexual predators.”

York served a libel notice — the first step in launching a libel lawsuit — to the publisher of the magazine and the author of the article, award-winning journalist Katherine Laidlaw late last month.

The unusual action has defamation law experts questioning whether as public institutions, universities are allowed, or should be allowed to sue for libel.

“I’d say it’s pretty troubling because it’s a large, essentially public body. The courts have held that governments like municipalities can’t sue for defamation, and I think there is a real question whether a university as a large public institution should be doing that,” says Paul Schabas, an expert in defamation law and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto who also represents the Toronto Star. “There is concern about whether it’s proper for them to try and muzzle criticism in this way.”

“Universities can get their own message out if they feel they have been unfairly criticized,” adds Schabas. “They have the resources to correct that message rather than engaging in a lawsuit against an individual or a small publisher as they seem to be doing here.”

Brian Rogers, a lawyer specializing in media and libel law, agrees — and adds that for universities in particular to sue for libel seems wrong.

“Universities should be most focused and protective of free expression … that’s how academic life is successfully engaged,” he says.

Laidlaw’s story “Fortress York” detailed a series of sexual assaults on the university campus in recent years, and described the administration’s response, which included hiring more security guards and installing more emergency telephones.

Despite the security upgrades, York’s female students continue to live in fear of being assaulted, the article alleges.

Mamdouh Shoukri, the university’s president and vice-chancellor, condemned the article in a statement, saying it “presents a wholly distorted picture of women’s safety on the campus of York University.”

Now the university is pursuing legal action against both Laidlaw and the magazine.

“I can confirm that a notice of libel was served to Toronto Life Publishing Limited and the author of the article in question,” York spokesperson Joanne Rider said in an email.

A notice of libel must be served before an individual or institution can file a libel claim. Both Laidlaw and Toronto Life editor Sarah Fulford declined to comment for this story.

As far as Rider knows, York University has never filed a libel claim, and only rarely files a notice of libel, she said.

Court documents show that in 2009 York took steps to find out the identity of the person behind allegedly defamatory emails and a website posting. A Superior Court ordered Bell Canada and Google to get the needed information for the purposes of filing a notice of libel.

While the Star found no examples of higher education institutions actually suing for libel in Canada, universities in both the United States and the United Kingdom have done so.

In a U.K. case decided last February, the University of Salford sued a former professor for libel.

The defence argued that universities fell into the same category as local authorities who cannot sue for libel because it would be against the public interest and suppress public criticism, according to a 1993 ruling.

The judge disagreed, ruling that universities can sue — but threw the case out anyway saying the references were directed at individuals rather than the university.

In the U.S., at least two higher education institutions have sued for libel – over anonymous online comments rather than print media. However, both schools are privately funded.

In 2009, Indiana-based Butler University sued a student over a blog that allegedly harmed the university’s reputation and that of two administrators. The lawsuit, which critics slammed as an infringement on freedom of speech, ended in a settlement a year later, according to media reports.

Thomas Cooley Law School, a private law school in Michigan, filed a defamation lawsuit against an anonymous blogger in 2011. They filed another against a New York law firm who launched a class-action suit on behalf of Cooley students who claimed the school inflated its post-graduation employment statistics and salary statistics to attract students, according to the Lansing State Journal. It was recently dismissed for not meeting the standard of defamation. Cooley is appealing that decision.

All of the lawsuits attracted media attention — little of it positive.

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Whether a libel action is the best way of protecting York’s reputation remains to be seen, Lorne Honickman, a Toronto defamation lawyer and partner with McCague Borlack Barristers and Solicitors, said.

If the university files a claim, Toronto Life is likely to defend itself, he explained, and legal action is extremely costly and time consuming.

“Pit a well-known university against a well-known magazine in relation to the specific matter at hand, and this legal matter will no doubt attract a lot of media attention and public scrutiny.”