Harvard University counter-sues professor who allegedly falsified data
Harvard University announced the counter-suit against the former-professor following an extensive line of developments focused on claims that the professor had engaged in data fraud.
In 2021, three professors announced that following their own investigation, they concluded that Professor Francesca Gino had engaged in data fraud in at least four papers she authored.
Harvard University has announced that it is seeking a defamation lawsuit against a former professor who allegedly falsified evidence in an attempt to prove she didn’t commit fraud.
Professor Francesca Gino was at the center of claims that she had engaged in “data fraud,” following an internal review and report from Harvard Business School that was focused on investigation allegations of research misconduct, as reported by The Harvard Crimson.
Following the investigation’s findings and recommendation to fire Gino becoming public in early 2024, her attorney responded by stating that the report was a “one-sided, unreliable, and confidential HR document” and its release came “without opportunity for my client to dispute the factual allegations through the normal process of litigation and discovery.”
Prior to that, Gino filed a lawsuit against the university, focusing on the main claim that she “has never falsified or fabricated data.”
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Gino was put on administrative leave in 2023 after she was initially accused of falsifying data in at least four papers that she authored.
At the time she was put on leave, three business professors had made the claims that, following their own data investigation, they concluded that they found sufficient evidence that Gino engaged in forms of data fraud.
Harvard’s recent lawsuit against Gino is a countersuit seeks unspecified damages against her.
Harvard’s lawsuit is focused on a data set that Gino presented in an attempt to exonerate herself, which stems from a 2010 study that examines individuals’ honesty when it comes to completing and filing tax forms.
That study, which is currently labeled as being “RETRACTED,” was published in 2012, and was titled: “Signing at the beginning makes ethics salient and decreases dishonest self-reports in comparison to signing at the end.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also weighed in on Gino’s 2023 lawsuit against Harvard.
”Without weighing in on either side, the ACLU is asking the court to rigorously apply the First Amendment rule that protects statements of opinion from liability in defamation lawsuits, so long as speakers share the facts that led them to form their opinions—and to apply this rule at the earliest possible stage, ideally before a case enters costly discovery,” the organization said in a statement posted to its website.
Campus Reform contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
