Screen grab of Go Fund Me campaign launched by TRU group facing suit/via Go Fund Me
The eight defendants named in a lawsuit filed last week by a Thompson Rivers University Vice-President have launched an online fundraiser to help cover their legal bills.
A notice of civil claim filed by Matt Milovick in early February – and first reported on by Kamloops This Week – alleges “malicious defamation” on the part of the defendants, seven of whom are now former employees of the university.
The eight are complainants who accused Milovick and former TRU Vice-President of People and Culture, Larry Phillips, of improper conduct including, bullying and harassment.
A year-long, over one-million dollar investigation was launched by the University in late 2021.
In its findings released this January, the TRU investigation found “wrongdoing” on behalf of one of the individuals, with the university saying it couldn’t find corroborating evidence in any of the allegations against the second person who was investigated.
While TRU refused to say who was involved in the “wrongdoing,” Milovick later came forward to say that it was he who was “fully exonerated” of the 22 allegations he was facing.
Milovick, in his suit, claims he has no issues with the complaints or the investigation into the allegations made against him, but suggests he takes issue with the accusers allegedly taking their complaints public, calling it a “campaign of vilification.”
The group, in its GoFundMe campaign, says it denies all the allegations put forward in Milovick’s lawsuit.
Launched on Feb. 13, the campaign has garnered over $13,000 in donations over the course of its first day online – including $1,500 from Christine Cnossen, TRU’s former provost and vice-president academic – with the ultimate goal of raising $100,000.
“We participated in the investigation in good faith, and in the hopes of creating a better university,” GoFundMe organizer, Amanda Ellison, said in the online campaign notification. “The investigation has severely impacted all of us and this new phase multiplies the risk, stress and costs each of us must now carry.”
None of the allegations in Milovick’s claim have been proven in court.
