Author: Lilliane Ballesteros and Jonathan Miller
Occidental College settled out-of-court for an undisclosed sum in a defamation lawsuit brought on by Oxy alumnus and controversial KOXY radio host Jason Antebi ’04 on Friday, October 19.
While neither side could speak to the particulars of the settlement, Stuart Tochner, the College’s attorney, indicated the decision was reached by Occidental’s insurers to avoid the cost of additional legal action. “From the College’s perspective, the settlement will spare the college’s employees from a wasteful diversion of attention,” Tochner said. “The settlement was unrelated to Mr. Antebi’s claims, and was a truly nominal amount. There isn’t and never was any merit to Mr. Antebi’s lawsuit, and the College absolutely admitted no wrongdoing.”
“I’m glad that it’s over and happy with the outcome,” Antebi said.
The initial suit, brought in 2005, alleged that Occidental College acted inappropriately by cancelling Antebi’s KOXY radio show after student complaints arose due to on-air remarks which Antebi made in a March 2004 broadcast. Antebi’s lawsuit sought a multi-million dollar injunction, claiming protection of the contested speech under the First Amendment, and alleged civil rights violations, contractual claims and defamation charges against the College, its Board of Trustees, and other administrators. Antebi sued the school under the Leonard Law, a California statute enacted to protect the civil liberties of students enrolled in postsecondary education.
At trial, the court dismissed Antebi’s lawsuit as inadmissible under the Leonard Law since he was no longer a student. On appeal, Antebi’s claim was reduced by the court to a single count of defamation. The amended complaint was set to proceed to trial in April 2008.
Antebi’s 2004 firing shook the campus community and was a critical pretext of the unprecedented abolition of ASOC in that year. “They [Oxy] still claim that the case had nothing to do with ASOC, but that’s a lie,” Antebi said.
The Foundation for Independent Rights in Education, a civil rights advocacy group, which publicized Antebi’s case, commented that while they were pleased that Antebi was satisfied with the settlement, they remained concerned about the case’s resolution. “We remain of the opinion that Occidental [administrators] demonstrated a shocking disregard for the basic rights owed to its students,” FIRE spokesman Will Creeley said.
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