Former Q host Jian Ghomeshi is taking his fight against the CBC to “binding arbitration” after agreeing to drop a $55-million lawsuit for breach of confidence against the national broadcaster.

Ghomeshi’s new civil lawyer, Jonathan Lisus, said Tuesday that he is on the case. He’s with Lax O’Sullivan Scott Lisus LLP.

“I represent Mr. Ghomeshi and confirm that the lawsuit between Mr. Ghomeshi and CBC has been resolved on the basis that CBC and Mr. Ghomeshi will address all issues in the lawsuit in binding arbitration in accordance with the collective agreement between them,” Lisus said in an email.

Ghomeshi, a former unionized CBC employee, was fired on Sunday, Oct. 26. The CBC said in a statement issued that day that it had received information which “precluded” it from continuing to employ him.

Ghomeshi took issue with that decision and sued, saying he had showed CBC personal information in good faith and they had used it against him in what he said amounted to a “breach of confidence.”

An ongoing Star investigation has shown that what Ghomeshi showed CBC executives was a video which revealed bruising on the torso of a woman he had dated. He also showed them text messages that referred to a “cracked rib.” A source said Ghomeshi had showed it as an example of how rough sex that causes bruising can be consensual.

“Mr. Ghomeshi would not have shared information about his private life with the CBC had he appreciated the CBC would ultimately use the information provided to it to terminate his employment,” Ghomeshi’s former lawyers, Denton LLP, wrote in the claim, which was filed the day after he was fired.

Within days of the suit being filed, CBC started a court process to have it dismissed. That process ended with the settlement last Friday.

“The parties have reached a settlement; the lawsuit has been withdrawn but it still needs to be formalized through a court order,” CBC media relations chief Chuck Thompson told the Star on Tuesday.

As part of the settlement, Ghomeshi must pay $18,000 in legal costs to the CBC. Thompson said he did not know whether that money had yet been paid.

Though Denton LLP signed Friday’s settlement, it appears the firm is no longer acting for Ghomeshi. Neither of the Denton lawyers originally working on the lawsuit returned a Star request for comment.

Toronto police said in October that detectives from its sex crimes unit were investigating allegations of sexual violence made against the fired CBC radio personality. Since then, at least three women have spoken with police in relation to the allegations.

The Star first reported in October that several women alleged Ghomeshi had punched, slapped or choked them without their consent.

Hours after he was fired, Ghomeshi posted a long message on Facebook, in which he said the CBC fired him after it became aware of his interest in what he described as “adventurous forms of sex.” As of Tuesday, both Ghomeshi’s Facebook and Twitter sites had been removed from the Internet.

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Ghomeshi has previously said he will “meet these allegations directly.”

Kevin Donovan can be reached at 416-869-4425 or kdonovan@thestar.ca

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