Teaching Assistant Attacked for Showing Jordan Peterson Video in Class Seeks $3.6 Million in Harassment Lawsuit

Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd, who was castigated by colleagues for showing a video of Dr. Jordan Peterson in a class, is suing her university for harassment and other related claims, seeking $3.6 million in damages.

Last November, leaked audio from a meeting between Wilfrid Laurier University teaching assistant and professors Nathan Rambukkana and Herbert Pimlott revealed just how crazy social justice had become on college campuses. The meeting was about Shepherd’s decision to play for her students a public television debate on gender-neutral pronouns. The debate featured scholars with opposing views, One of which was Dr. Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto.

Rambukkana: Do you see how this is something that is not intellectually neutral, that is kind of “up for debate,” I mean this is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Shepherd: But it is up for debate.

Rambukkana: You’re perfectly welcome to your own opinion, but when you’re bringing it into the context of the classroom that can become problematic, and that can become something that is, that creates an unsafe learning environment for students.

Shepherd: But when they leave the university they’re going to be exposed to these ideas, so I don’t see how I’m doing a disservice to the class by exposing them to ideas that are really out there. And I’m sorry I’m crying, I’m stressed out because this to me is so wrong, so wrong.

In a recently filed lawsuit, Shepherd alleges harassment, intentional infliction of nervous shock, negligence, and aggravated and general damages. The total amount she’s seeking is $3.6 million dollars.

The lawsuit details her claim against the university. “Peterson and Matte were debating compelled gender pronouns. Peterson argued against being required to use these words which, he argued, had not developed organically,” her lawsuit stated. “Matte took an opposing position.”

“At this session, all three lambasted Shepherd, viciously attacking her personally, falsely alleging there had been complaints … insisting that, in playing the TV Ontario clip, she had been threatening to her students,” the lawsuit continues, referring to Rambukkana’s endless attacks. At one point, Shepherd was even told that she may have broken Canadian law by playing the video in the classroom.

“They continued to abuse her even after she began sobbing, as they accused her of causing harm to unnamed students. She pleaded, ‘I am stressed out because to me this is so wrong, so wrong,’ noting ‘the very spirit of the university is to challenge ideas you already have,’” the lawsuit adds.