CKLN sues school, RSU for $550k
Campus radio station CKLN is suing the Ryerson Students' Union (RSU) and Ryerson University for over $500,000 in damages for withholding the station's membership fees for the past two years.
The statement of claim, served to the RSU less than two weeks ago, is asking the union and the university for $400,000 in damages for breach of contract, and another $150,000 for punitive damages.
"It shouldn't have come to this. The RSU has no business involving itself in what is basically a hostile takeover of a federal corporation, which is what we are," said Daibhid James, a staff member at CKLN.
Ryerson collects the membership fees that pay for the operating budget of the radio station through students' tuition fees, and then hands it over to the RSU to give to CKLN.
"Ryerson was informed that they were going to withhold it, and they gave it to them anyways," said James. CKLN is calling a breach of contract dated in the early 1980s and is the reason why the university is included in the lawsuit.
There are currently two separate boards of directors struggling for power. This has prohibited the RSU from giving CKLN their funds, said RSU president Muhammad Ali Jabbar.
"Our lawyers are holding them (the funds) in trust until we can know who to give the money to," said Jabbar. "Right now, there are two people who are coming to me and saying, 'I'm the right CKLN', well, no 'I'm the legal CKLN.'"
James said the multiple-board argument may not stand up well in court because of what he saw in the preliminary hearing in another lawsuit.
Ron Nelson, a former radio show host at CKLN and a member on one of the board of directors, had sold advertisements on his show and pocketed the money, said James. Nelson owed CKLN about $6,000, which the station sued him for.
"They tried to argue the same thing that the RSU is arguing... and it got brushed right off," said James, referring to the argument that the existence of two boards stops the money from going anywhere.
James also said that when he had spoken to members of the RSU's board of directors, none of them had been informed of the lawsuit.
"They didn't want it, one would assume, coming out during the election," said James, referring to the executives originally served with the statement of claim.
The RSU refrained from speaking much about the lawsuit under the advice of their lawyers, but the board and executive are always updated on CKLN developments, said Jabbar.
"The executives have been informed, as well as the board, of the CKLN situation from day one," said Jabbar. Contractual agreements are generally dealt with at the executive level, he said. Osman Hamid, student groups director and member of the executive committee, said he had not heard about the legal troubles the RSU was facing with CKLN.
"When I heard about this, I was shocked," said Hamid. He said he had heard nothing about the lawsuit until the statement of claim became available to media on Monday.
"This is amazing, because we might be liable for more than $500,000 when we are already under a deficit," said Hamid.
Comments
Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
I thought Ryerson students were supposed to take media law in the first year! Ron Nelson has cause for action here, since he did not due what Daibhid James is alleging he did. Please, check your facts, even when quoting someone, as you are supposed to be journalists. If the RSU Board didn't know about this dispute, then they are remiss from their duties, as this dispute is now nearly one year old and the exec was doing due diligence by withholding funds in the middle of a dispute like tihs. Unlike James, the RSU is wise to refrain from spurious comment until this case has gone to court.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
First of all you spelled "due" wrong. Secondly regardless of your no doubt years of legal expertise, it would take more than your word to decide that Nelson had "just cause", the judge disagreed, we have only your word otherwise. As for Jabbar's word that he has fully informed the RSU Board about the lawsuit; they say he didn't and in his comments to the other Ryerson paper Jabbar himself bragged that he hadn't told the other directors "even in private", although Whitfield woud have to have known. The responsibility to inform the RSU lies with those who were served with the demand letter and suit, and that would be Jabbar and Whitfield.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
Oh and you also spelled "this" wrong
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
This is a ridiculous and shameful way of operating a radio station that is being paid out of our pockets to service us students and our communities here in Toronto. My brother is a Ryerson alumni and he used to volunteer at CKLN years ago and he can't believe the shape and form that the situation has taken over the past 2 years. When I walk by I can't bring myself to look the way of CKLN, a place in shambles without direction and staffed by paid and volunteer people who have no clue what community campus radio really stands for. A total disgrace. We should just pull the plug. The RSU is right in not passing over the monies, who can they trust to give our contributions in a place that has become a black hole - and the programming has gone down the drain. When before lots of good to balance out the mediocre, now is the other way around. It's sad and sick.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
Community radio could have a vital role at Ryerson, but only if its lead by its students, who also happen to be "community" members. Hold a referendum, rescind paying the fee to prop up the station, close it down and then start fresh. CKLN is an irrelevant disgrace that serves little purpose currently. Student involvement would change that entirely.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
You don't know the first thing about broadcast law. CKLN is an independent federal corporation and it's license is owned solely by CKLN inc. It is not shared by nor does it default to Ryerson or RSU. In the event that the station were to be forced into bankruptcy by RSU it's license does not default to RSU or Ryerson, it simply gets reclaimed by the CRTC and Ryerson will have to get in line and apply for a new license with everybody else, and given RSU's own problems and their interference with CKLN, the CRTC will not be impressed with them. This sort of thing already happened at Waterloo last year where the student union backed a referendum to shut down their station under the belief that they could then take it over, when they found out that wasn't the case they have since back-tracked and are now trying to find a way to save their station.
Also CKLN's license does NOT say that it should be student run at all, that would require a completely different type of license with fewer watts, as Humber College has. CKLN is supposed to run a public radio station and involve students in ways that are, according the CRTC's terms, "relevant to their course of study" (ie focusing on RTA and Journalism depts.) and there is little doubt that CKLN is doing that. In fact CKLN now has a higher percentage of student shows than you find at any other campus/community station in any other large Canadian city. You should ask Whitfield why he has been opposing this.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
The last post was written anonymously but judging from the virulent tone, I suspect Daibhid James of CKLN authored it. His posts to the Ryersonian article about this same issue are even more beligerent.
CKLN should lose its license. If Ryerson doesn't deserve a chance to hold a new license, that's another matter entirely. I doubt the CRTC will look favourably upon CKLN's behaviour as a campus based organization. They are a member of the Ryerson community although they're not acting like one. Get rid of them.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
The licensing may only require that the station do anything for students except in ways that are, according the CRTC's terms, "relevant to their course of study" However--the station takes a truckload of student money with almost no real accountability even in a good year.
The position that 'the license does not require us etc etc' ignores the on the ground reality that although a community station--student money makes the station possible.
Maybe the student's don't want to pay into a station that takes their money and ignores them.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
CKLN has a new chair and treasurer that is cleaning up the place like crazy.
d. James is now making a mad scamper to hold on to the organization anyway he and the others can.
Rumors have it Barnes and Phillips is gone.
New people have put a forensic auditor to work.
And they seem to be strict on all past corruption issues.
Go people who ever you are, JOB WELL DONE.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
To the last poster:
As a student and one of the volunteers at CKLN, I'm wondering exactly how the job is WELL DONE if NO ONE knows what exactly is going on.
I am struggling on the sidelines watching what is essentially a fight wherein I have no voice at all in the proceedings.
People are being locked out of the station and are not allowed to do their shows. If this is what the original fight was about, it seems highly hypocritical to be doing the same to the new set of volunteers who are trying their best.
It seems to me that everyone is running around with their own agenda. No one cares what the students think.
In the past year, many students have been given the chance to run their own shows. All of them have been community-oriented and varying in their nature of formats. This has been an exciting experience for us all.
Therefore, it is highly impolite to not be informed at all at what is going on. There is no choice in the matter at the events going on now. And the bottom line is, people's shows are ending up being booted or not depending if they know the new heads or not.
That smacks of favoritism and elitism to me.
I always thought community radio was supposed to be about community. And the fact of the matter is, the station is located in Ryerson University. So therefore wouldn't the mandate be about serving the students?
And recently, it was giving students opportunity but now this happens.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
ckln really fucked up now
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 15:23:27
I just had a short telephone conversation with Mercedes of West Indies Flames. She was one of the board members that had allegedly taken over the station when the lock out began (in late February 2009). It appears now that 'Ryerson', or unknown people above RSU, Executive Director of Operations & Services, Michael Verticchio: 'No longer have interests in operating a radio station at Ryerson'. They 'Ryerson' have changed the locks, and when the 2 week rebroadcast ends, so will CKLN, with 24 hours of dead air.
I assume it is the President’s office behind the lockout. The President’s office had not returned my phone call of Monday March 9th, 4pm and did not talk to me, or sound very encouraging, when I followed up 24 hours later and explained that this matter is urgent
All the parties that have been sued recently by CKLN-FM Inc probably see this (shutting down CKLN) as the quickest and easiest resolution to their problems. What was it that caused this? Perhaps, a $500,000.00 suit against RSU and Ryerson President’s office, and X amount of dollars suit against Ron Nelson.
Shannon Reiner aka Freedom DJ/Fire Root/...
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
This mornic lawsuit bluff plus Dhaibid's idiotic 'occupation' of the station gave Ryerson the excuse to lock down the station and call their bluff. CKLN getting student money and using Ryerson space is a privilege not a right and when you start throwing threats and tantrums you lose your priviliges. what is CKLN without Ryerson support? Dead air. Let's see James exercise his threat to take CKLN somewhere else.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
The proper thing to do, the wise thing, would be for the members of CKLN to call a general meeting, to dissolve the board (or boards), ask Ryerson's president to appoint a third party manager which would report to the general membership and the RSU. Finally, the membership would set a date for new elections to select a new board of directors. Nothing short of and to past arguments will save CKLN.
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
Please look at and read the By-Laws of CKLN Radio Inc (to be found on web site!) and you will find that the simplistic view of "how to rebuild CKLN" is a joke the By-Laws HAVE to be folloed and you will find that RSU has NO RIGHT to interfear with CKLN in the way that it has !
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
Bring back Ron Nelson
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Anonymous, about 1 year ago said:
CKLN needs an overhaul if it is to continue. If there is a forensic auditor at work, then this is good news. Hopefully charges will be brought against any party involved in fraud.
It has been apparent for many years that individuals have taken advantage of their positions at the station to advance personal agendas and line their pockets. Many have expressed the view that they 'own' either their shows or the station. This has always been wrong.
If students fund the station, then they should be represented to the level of their stakeholding, as should other stakeholders.
The concept and role of the campus-community radio station needs to be reviewed and updated to make it more accoutable and transparent for a start, which it hasn't been.
A thorough public vetting process should occur for all new programmers. No former programmers should be allowed back on the air until they undergo the same process. No current or former 'board'(s) members should be involved in the new CKLN.
ckln 88.1 needs a new beginning.
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