On November 20, 2013, the Ontario Superior Court struck a
$50-million lawsuit by a former professor against the University of
Ottawa and four individual defendants.1 The court held
that the lawsuit was an abuse of process. It also held that the
former professor's statement of claim did not set out facts
required in support of his legal claims.
Facts
Dr. Ibrahim Said was a paediatric anaesthetist and assistant
professor at the University of Ottawa. He applied for a promotion
to associate professor in 2009. Dr. Said needed to obtain the
promotion to retain his licence to practice medicine in
Ontario.2
Dr. Said's application for promotion was considered by the
Faculty of Medicine's Clinical Teaching Personnel Committee
(the CTPC) and the Dean of the faculty. Both recommended against
the promotion because Dr. Said was, at the time, on probation for
sexually harassing a medical resident in 2008. Dr. Said's
application for promotion then went before the Joint
