L'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) reached an out-of-court settlement with Hélène Boudreau, a graduate of UQAM who used the school's logo in unofficial and "inappropriate" photos in which she was partially nude and then posted them on social media.
In one of the photos, according to an April 7 UQAM press release, Boudreau was partially revealing her breasts while holding her UQAM diploma in hand. In another, she appeared partially naked raising a "middle finger" in front of the UQAM logo and the institution's 50th anniversary visual.
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"UQAM had no choice but to go to court because, despite three formal requests to the student, she continued to associate the university's name and logo with her intimate photos, and to market some of them to promote paid access to her website," the press release says, calling the photos "damaging [to] the institution's image and reputation as well as its official brand."
According to the release, the settlement was reached around one month after the photos first surfaced on Boudreau's social media accounts.
UQAM said it waived "all claims for damages and punitive damages against the student" — including a reported $125,000.
It also said Boudreau agreed not to publish, broadcast or share the photos, as well as any other photo of the same nature that uses a name, logo or reference to the university on her social network accounts or any other platform.
