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Therefore, they argue, should the court find Peterson suffered damages or injuries, those would be “attributable to Shepherd and her publication and dissemination” of the recording.

The allegations have not been proven in court and Shepherd’s lawyer says the young woman has not yet been served with the document.

Howard Levitt says that while he has not seen the claim, his client will defend herself against the allegations. He further says the professors’ argument makes no sense considering the conversation was also shared by media outlets and others.

“Why don’t you sue all the news agencies…that published it, if that’s really your position?” Levitt told The Canadian Press.

Photo by Craig Robertson / Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Neither Rambukkana nor Pimlott immediately responded to requests for comment, but they have previously denied the allegations in Peterson’s lawsuit.

At the heart of both suits is a 2017 meeting between the professors, a Laurier staff member and Shepherd, who was then a teaching assistant in Rambukkana’s communications class.

According to Peterson’s unproven statement of claim, the disciplinary meeting was called after Shepherd showed students an excerpt of a TVOntario broadcast in which Peterson defends his opposition to gender-neutral pronouns.

Peterson, a University of Toronto psychology professor who has gained international attention for his views on free speech and political correctness, alleges in his suit that the professors and staff member compared him to Adolf Hitler and accused him of being a “charlatan” over the course of the meeting.