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A Notre Dame University student publication is now seeking attorney fees against a professor who unsuccessfully sued the publication for defamation.
Counsel for The Irish Rover on Friday asked the St. Joseph Superior Court to order professor Tamara Kay to pay $178,000 in legal fees.
In May 2023, Kay, a professor of global affairs and sociology, filed a lawsuit against the student publication based on two articles that she was featured in. Kay alleged the articles contained false statements, defamation and other inaccuracies, and she claimed that as a result of the articles, she has been harassed, threatened and experienced damage to her home.
The two articles reported on Kay’s public statements and actions following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Earlier this month, the St. Joseph Superior Court concluded that The Irish Rover did not knowingly publish anything false, and that the alleged defamatory statements were made in the furtherance of the defendant’s right to free speech, in connection with a public issue, and with good faith and a reasonable basis in law and fact.
The lawsuit was dismissed under Indiana’s Anti-SLAPP law.
“The Court concludes that the Articles were written not only to highlight one of the preeminent political public issues of our time — abortion rights and access — but also to bring public attention to Dr. Kay’s actions and public statements regarding this public issue, which have a bearing on the mission and identity of the most prominent Catholic university in the nation, which is also a public issue of concern to the Notre Dame community,” Former Indiana Supreme Court justice and now-Senior Judge Steven David wrote in the order dismissing the lawsuit.
“Indiana’s Anti-SLAPP law provides a way for defendants who are accused of defamation without any basis in law and fact to recoup their attorney fees and is intended to be a deterrent for people bringing these types of frivolous cases,” James Bopp Jr., of The Bopp Law Firm P.C., which is lead counsel for The Irish Rover, said in a news release. “My firm concentrates on defending First Amendment rights — we were happy to defend The Irish Rover’s right to free speech in this case.”
Counsel for Kay declined to comment.
The case is Tamara Kay v. The Irish Rover, Inc., 71D04-2305-CT-000264.
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