011812_NEWS_Student_MRM

Former University of Michigan student Jennifer Dibbern, flanked by fellow students Jeremy Moore and Samantha Montgomery, speaks to reporters during a press conference outside of Lurie Engineering Center on campus in 2012. Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan has agreed to pay $165,000 to settle a lawsuit over a graduate student's dismissal from an engineering program in 2011, according to The Associated Press.

The school struck a deal with Jennifer Dibbern before a June trial and after a judge dismissed many claims. She had accused the university of retaliating against her for union activity and efforts to change the campus anti-harassment policy.

The university denied any retaliation and said Dibbern wasn't making progress toward a degree after four years, among other problems.

Dibbern's lawyers will get $83,000, half the settlement, for their fees and expenses. Details were released to The Associated Press under a public records request.

U-M says it settled after 3 1/2 years to stop costly litigation.

Dibbern, who was dismissed from U-M as a graduate student and research assistant in 2011, said she was unfairly terminated from the College of Engineering because of her involvement in heated GSRA unionization efforts.