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Key Takeaways
- Former Notre Dame Professor Tamara Kay is facing potential legal fees of up to $244,000 after her defamation lawsuit against the student newspaper Irish Rover was rejected.
- The law firm representing the Irish Rover argues that Kay's lawsuit was frivolous and is seeking reimbursement for legal costs under Indiana's Anti-SLAPP laws.
- The lawsuit was based on coverage of Kay's pro-abortion stance, including public displays on her office door; the court found the newspaper's reporting was factual and supported by evidence.
- After the lawsuit, Kay left Notre Dame for a position at the University of Pittsburgh.
A professor who promoted pro-abortion ideology on a Catholic campus is facing as much as $244,000 in legal fees following a failed defamation lawsuit against a conservative student publication.
Former University of Notre Dame Professor Tamara Kay sued The Irish Rover in 2023, alleging that the student paper published defamatory and false statements in two articles reporting on her pro-abortion advocacy.
Earlier this year, the Court of Appeals of Indiana rejected Kay’s case, determining that The Irish Rover’s reports about her abortion advocacy were “in good faith” and had “reasonable basis in law and fact,” The College Fix previously reported.
Now, the Bopp Law Firm, which represents the student journalists, has asked the court to order Kay to pay $244,000 in legal fees for what it describes as a “frivolous defamation suit,” according to a news release from the firm. The court has not yet ruled on the request.
UCLA Emeritus Law Professor Eugene Volokh told The Fix that Anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation statutes—laws designed to deter claims intended to silence free speech— apply in this case.
“If the plaintiff’s case is quickly dismissed on the grounds that there’s just no legal basis for it, then the plaintiff has to pay the defendant’s fees,” he said.
He said that although The Irish Rover may have requested $244,000 in attorneys’ fees, the court could later rule that the amount is unreasonable.
According to Volokh, “Defending a lawsuit is a very expensive proposition … if they know that when they get sued, they could have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of attorney fees, even if they prevail, that’s a pretty powerful reason for them to give in to threats.”
Volokh clarified that when a case involves a factual dispute—“say, the plaintiff claims the defendant falsely accused me of rape, and the defendant says, no, it was true”—such questions must be decided by a jury.
In that situation, “the anti-SLAPP law wouldn’t cause this case to be dismissed and wouldn’t cause fees to be shifted,” he said.
Addressing concerns that the case might equate healthcare advocacy with abortion advocacy, Volokh said the court did not rule that statements like “I support healthcare” or “I support reproductive health” automatically imply support for abortion.
Rather, he said, in this particular context, “a reasonable person would have understood it as support for abortion.”
Similarly, James Bopp, an attorney representing The Irish Rover, stated in a news release, “Indiana’s Anti-SLAPP law deters meritless cases attacking speech in connection with a public issue by allowing the accused to recoup their attorney fees from the people bringing these types of cases.”
“It shocked me that a pro-abortion professor would bring a frivolous defamation law suit against a student-run newspaper, just to try to shut them up. My firm concentrates on defending First Amendment rights, and we were happy to defend The Irish Rover’s right to free speech in this case,” he stated.
Kay’s lawsuit stemmed from The Irish Rover’s coverage of signs posted on her office door stating it was a “SAFE SPACE to get help and information on ALL Healthcare issues and access—confidentially with care and compassion.”
The student publication also reported that Kay’s door displayed a capital letter, “J”, which was interpreted as a symbol used by Notre Dame professors who are willing to help students access abortion.
Kay put the signs up soon after Indiana began enforcing its abortion ban.
In rejecting her lawsuit, the Indiana court ruled that, “The Articles were written based upon the author’s own verified research, as well as notes and recordings of the relevant public meetings referenced and that the statements in the Articles had sufficient support to conclude that they were true…”
Since losing the case, Kay has left Notre Dame to become the Andrew W. Mellon Chair and Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. On her personal website, she praised Pitt’s faculty union for including “academic freedom,” “anti-bullying,” and “anti-harassment” protections in its 2024 contract.
Both Notre Dame and the University of Pittsburgh declined to comment or provide contact information for Kay. She has also previously declined to comment when contacted by The Observer, Notre Dame’s student newspaper.
MORE: Fired newspaper director sues Indiana U. over alleged censorship
