The Executive University of Toronto Students’ Union 12 Hart House Circle Toronto, ON, M5S 39 executive@utsu.ca 416-978-4911 Monday, June 12, 2017 Board of Directors, Ryerson Students’ Union 55 Gould Street Toronto ON, M5B 1E9 RE: Motion to boycott Dear Directors of the Ryerson Students’ Union, Earlier this month, it was brought to our attention that you will soon be voting on ‘a motion to "boycott" the UTSU. We were invited to offer a brief rebuttal of the motion to boycott, and we have chosen to do so. We understand that this motion is @ response fo the UTSU's angoing civil action against Sandra Hudson, which Ms. Hudson's supporters allege to be motivated by racism. While we believe that the facts of the case should not be tried by any body other than a court of law, we are nonetheless willing to provide a brief summary of the UTSU's position. Ms. Hudson was employed by the UTSU as Executive Director from August 2012 to April 2015. We allege that Ms. Hudson wrongly took $277,508.62 from the UTSU in the month prior to her departure. In particular, we allege that Ms. Hudson 1) solicited her own termination in order to receive severance pay and 2) Glaimed more than 2,000 hours of overtime pay to which she was not entitled. These actions were authorized by the President and the Vice-President internal, ‘whose terms of office ended one day after Ms. Hudson's departure from the UTSU. We further allege that Ms. Hudson destroyed UTSU property—including many operationally important documents—immediately prior to the end of her employment. Finally, we allege that Ms. Hudson used a secret email account to continue to receive internal UTSU emails after her departure. The email account in question was discovered and deactivated in April 2016. 12 HART HOUSE CIRCLE | TORONTO. ONTARIO | MSS 319) ursuca~ ES i at) In September 2015, the UTSU filed a statement of claim alleging civil fraud against Ms. Hudson, the former President, and the former Vice-President Internal. We have since settled out of court with the latter two. The claim that the decision to sue Ms. Hudson was motivated by anti-Black racism is false. The claim that the 2016-16 officers intended to mistreat Ms. Hudson is also false. The UTSU Is and has always been motivated exclusively by a desire to reclaim the $277,508.62 that was, we believe, wrongly taken. We have also made every effort to settle out of court, and to keep publicity to a minimum. At no point have we alleged that Ms. Hudson committed a crime. Finally, we have consistently urged that all parties to this dispute be treated with respect and with dignity—without exception. ‘The RSU and the UTSU have been partners for years, That partnership should not be brought to an end, We ask that you vote against this motion. ‘Yours in partnership, The UTSU Executive CC: Susanne Nyaga, President, RSU ‘Ali Yousaf, VP Operations, RSU Daniel Lis, VP Education, RSU ‘Camryn Harlick, VP Equity, RSU Lauren Emberson, VP Student Life, RSU IZ HART MOUSE CIRCLE | TORONTO, ONTARIO IMSS 549 ursuca