On Aug. 2, Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino filed a $25 million lawsuit against the university for accusing her of data fabrication, claiming that the accusation is really due to sexism.
A spokesperson for Gino told Campus Reform that the allegations include “defamation, breach of contract, bad faith and gender discrimination, stemming from false and unsupported accusations of ‘research misconduct.’”
“I want to be very clear: I have never, ever falsified data or engaged in research misconduct of any kind,” Gino said in a LinkedIn post. “Today I had no choice but to file a lawsuit against Harvard University and members of the Data Colada group, who worked together to destroy my career and reputation despite admitting they have no evidence proving their allegations.”
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Gino said she was investigated under a new policy “specific to her case” while her male counterparts in similar situations were treated under existing policies. The lawsuit cites a Harvard investigation into a male junior faculty member for “allegations of research misconduct” in which the school ultimately “protected [his] confidentiality” and “promoted him to tenure.”
The lawsuit states that Gino has been “stripped of her salary,” “derailed” from her career, and has “suffered severe emotional distress.”
On June 13, the university announced that Gino was placed on administrative leave after Data Colada, a blog operated by Professors Uri Simonsohn of Barcelona, Leif D. Nelson of UC Berkeley, and Joseph P. Simmons of the University of Pennsylvania, investigated Gino’s research and reported to Harvard Business School about her alleged falsified data in various research papers.
“We’re not commenting on Prof. Gino at this time,” Harvard University’s Head of Communications Mark Cautela told Campus Reform.
The blog “threatened” to post the allegations publicly, subjecting both Gino and Harvard Business School to “public scrutiny,” the lawsuit states. Without Gino’s knowledge, Harvard allegedly negotiated an agreement with Data Colada in which the university would investigate her and report the findings to the blog in exchange for its silence.
“Harvard’s complete and utter disregard for evidence, due process and confidentiality should frighten all academic researchers,” Gino’s attorney Andrew T. Miltenberg said in a statement provided to Campus Reform. “The University’s lack of integrity in its review process stripped Prof. Gino of her rights, career and reputation – and failed miserably with respect to gender equity.”
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“The bias and uneven application of oversight in this case is appalling. Data Colada’s vicious take-down of Prof Gino is also completely baseless – they recently admitted that they have no evidence that Prof. Gino engaged in any misconduct.”
Campus Reform reached out to Harvard University, Dr. Gino, and Data Colada for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
Republished with permission from Campus Reform
