Francesca Gino's lawsuit says the university and professors defamed her. ADVERTISEMENT [Weekly Briefing Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Scholarâs lawsuit accuses Harvard, bloggers of defamation Francesca Gino (above) filed a $25-million defamation suit this week against Harvard University and three scholars who accused her of fabricating research data. Gino, a professor at Harvardâs business school, rose to prominence for her research on dishonesty in leadership and workplace behavior. [In her lawsuit,]( filed on Wednesday in the U.S. district court in Massachusetts, Gino denies that she falsified data. She says Data Colada, a blog by three business-school professors who have written about her research, made erroneous accusations about her work. The [lawsuit]( calls the statements on Data Colada âfalse and defamatory.â As for Harvard, she accuses the institution of not producing substantial evidence that she committed research misconduct, and her suit calls the sanctions the institution placed against her, including unpaid leave, âunwarranted and excessive.â Gino says she was placed on administrative leave on June 13, for two years. The leave bars her from campus and eliminates her teaching duties, research work, student mentorship, and titled professorship, according to her lawsuit. The lawsuit adds that the allegations have marked her career and delayed a book deal. âI want to be very clear: I have never, ever falsified data or engaged in research misconduct of any kind,â Gino said in a [statement]( on LinkedIn. In June, The Chronicle reported that Gino was [on administrative leave]( after an investigation that Harvard had been conducting into her research. Data Colada then [published a series of blog posts]( that they called âevidence of fraudâ in four of her studies. The bloggers also wrote that they believed that these were not isolated incidents. They identified problems like original data sets that didnât match published sets and problems with how the data was sorted. Itâs worth noting that two of Ginoâs papers mentioned in the Data Colada posts have been retracted, and a [third retraction]( is forthcoming. A fourth paper was retracted in 2021 because of a separate instance of data fabrication. Ginoâs lawsuit also takes issue with Harvardâs timing of its investigation. She first learned about the allegations in October 2021 from Harvard Business Schoolâs research-integrity officer and that Harvard was investigating in April 2022, according to the lawsuit. In her lawsuit, she accuses Harvard of not giving her enough time to review and respond to the draft findings. She said she was given three weeks to review the material when she was going on a two-week trip to Italy. Gino also said in her lawsuit that she wasnât allowed to see the documentation from a forensics firm hired by Harvard. And on June 13 this year, the Harvard Business School dean told her that he would accept the panelâs conclusions, according to her lawsuit. The lawsuit states that Harvard found Gino committed misconduct based on the institutionâs âinconclusiveâ observation of discrepancies and âspeculation.â The Harvard policy at the time said that the investigative committee needed to prove that she ââintentionally, knowingly, or recklesslyâ falsified or fabricated dataâ to prove research misconduct, according to the lawsuit. A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by The Chronicle. The Data Colada authors also declined to comment, adding that they had not read the lawsuit as of Wednesday afternoon. [Read our Stephanie M. Leeâs full story here](. ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Lagniappe - Read. This profile of Allie Beth Allman, the queen of Dallas luxury real estate, is about a woman who stumbled into her profession and ended up dominating it, and itâs a story American real estate. Even if you donât live in or are not from the Dallas area (Iâm not), [the story is a detailed look at real-estate changes in America](. (Texas Monthly)
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- Watch. The TV show Reservation Dogs is back for its [third and final season]( on Hulu. The coming-of-age comedy follows teenage friends living on a reservation in Oklahoma, but this season picks up with the gang on a trip to California. (NPR) âFernanda SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. Chronicle Top Reads DATA [How Much Are Public-College Presidents Paid?]( [STORY IMAGE]( Base pay, bonuses, and benefits for 195 chief executives at public doctoral universities and systems in 2022. SPONSOR CONTENT | Florida International University [Producing Top Engineers With No End in Sight]( Florida International University is the top producer of minority engineers and computer scientists in the country, but why stop there? CURRICULA [Scared of AI? Donât Be, Computer-Science Instructors Say.]( By Maggie Hicks [STORY IMAGE]( The discipline offers a potential model for integrating ChatGPT and other artificial-intelligence tools into the curriculum. ADMISSIONS [An Early Peek at How Admission Applications Are Changing After the Supreme Court Ruling]( By Eric Hoover [STORY IMAGE]( Some colleges are adjusting their essay prompts â boldly or subtly. ADVERTISEMENT FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [Restructuring a University - The Chronicle Store]( [Restructuring a University]( In 2022, Henderson State University declared financial exigency after realizing it could no longer avoid hard choices. This case study of the universityâs path to near-ruin highlights lessons for any college leader contemplating a restructuring to keep an institution viable. [Order your copy]( to learn about key factors to consider in a restructuring process. NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2023 [The Chronicle of Higher Education](
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