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RSU DEBATES $3,500 PAYOUT

By Adrian Morrow

Associate News Editor

The Ryerson Students’ Union is divided over offering a $3,500 settlement to a fired employee.

VP Student Life and Events Ibrahim (Abe) Snobar fired Rebecca Rose for calling him an “asshole” during a heated political discussion in July.

Rose was the summer co-ordinator at the Working Students Centre, an RSU-run labour and activist organization.

She threatened legal action against the RSU, which opted to settle out of court.

RSU President Nora Loreto and VP Finance and Services Chris Drew are in favour of offering Rose the settlement. Snobar wants to settle for less.

Citing a legal opinion obtained by the union, Loreto said that going to court could leave the RSU on the hook for Rose’s legal fees as well.

“This is the cheapest option at this point,” she said at an executive committee meeting last week. “There’s no point in going back [to Rose] with anything less than $3,000.”

Drew argued that the RSU would have to spend more money the longer the case goes on.

Snobar, however, doesn’t want to settle with Rose until he’s had a chance to consult with the union’s lawyer himself.

“I think there are better options than this,” he said. Other committee members agreed.

“The president has been dealing with the lawyer and it keeps getting more expensive. (We should) give another executive member the opportunity to consult with the lawyer,” said Samih Abdelgadir.

The committee voted to table the settlement until Snobar has a chance to talk with the lawyer.

Rose said that she’d proven her point with the suit.

“Hopefully it’ll set a precedent for the future and we won’t have other part-time staff dismissed in this manner,” she said.

“They won’t do anything like this again.”

Rose is waiting on the RSU to decide what it wants to do.

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