Lawsuit accuses Yale of making false statements about fake degree
Dongguk University is seeking more than $50 million in damages, saying Yale's actions "severely tarnished" its stellar reputation, sparked a criminal probe, cost employees their jobs and led to a decline in donations, government grants and student applications.
In 2005, Yale mistakenly confirmed that it had awarded an art history doctorate to Shin Jeong-ah, a disgraced former professor of art history and curator at Dongguk. The lawsuit contends Yale initially claimed its confirmation of the degree was a forgery and denied that it had received an inquiry from Dongguk.
"Dongguk University was publicly humiliated and deeply shamed in the eyes of the Korean population," the lawsuit says. "Because of the false statements made by Yale University, the Korean media reported and significant segments of the Korean population believed that Dongguk University had improperly hired Shin, that it had never contacted Yale University and that it had tried to cover up its inaction by relying on a forged document."
The Korean government recently told Dongguk it would not be added to a list of academic institutions permitted to open a "U.S. style" law school.
Yale on Dec. 29 expressed regrets and called the matter an administrative error.
"Yale regrets that Dongguk University has filed suit against a fellow institution of higher learning regarding the fraudulent actions of Shin Jeong-ah, who was hired before an inquiry about her credentials was made to Yale," Yale said in a statement Wednesday.
"The university has apologized to Dongguk for the administrative error that delayed the discovery of her fraud. Yale will defend against the lawsuit, which it believes is without merit. Yale hopes that, once this matter is resolved with Yale's exoneration, Yale and Dongguk can have good will and friendship," the school said.
Dongguk, a Buddhist-affiliated university, says its hired Shin as an assistant professor in September 2005. After questions were raised about her Yale degree, Dongguk sent a registered letter seeking to confirm it, the lawsuit says.
An associate dean at Yale confirmed the degree in a Sept. 22 fax, according to the lawsuit.
Shin, once described as the "art world's Cinderella," began teaching at Dongguk, which says it received documents last year suggesting she had not written her dissertation. When a Dongguk official asked Yale for a copy, Yale responded that it had no such record, the lawsuit says.
On June 11, 2007, Yale told Dongguk that Shin did not receive a doctorate there.
Yale officials then said the confirmation of the degree sent in 2005 was "not authentic" and a forgery, the lawsuit says. Yale also told Korean media that it had not received the registered letter in 2005 asking whether Shin had received a doctorate from Yale, according to the lawsuit.
Amid numerous articles about Dongguk's supposed failure to verify Shin's credentials, Dongguk's president apologized and the university's board vowed to discipline faculty. A group of monks called for the dismissal of the board and prosecutors began a criminal investigation.
Last August, Dongguk sent Yale an e-mail saying it had located the U.S. Postal Services tracking record that showed its 2005 registered letter was signed by a Yale staff member.
"Rather than correct its false statements and admit the truth," the lawsuit says, Yale officials issued a statement last fall contending all documents supporting Shin's claim were forgeries.
In Korea, university professors began to call for the resignation of the university's president and other officials.
According to the lawsuit, Yale's continued statements that the verifications were forgeries led Korean prosecutors to focus their attention on Dongguk.
Shin was arrested by Korean prosecutors last October and accused of fabricating a doctorate. She is in prison awaiting trial, the lawsuit says.
In connection with her trial, Korean prosecutors subpoenaed Yale University records last November.
As a result of the subpoena, the lawsuit contends, Yale finally admitted it had received the registered letter and said the fax attesting to the validity of Shin's Ph.D. was authentic.
Yale says the associate dean sent the fax in "the rush of business."
The lawsuit claims Yale was negligent and careless in not determining earlier that the fax was authentic and in not researching the degree properly initially.
"Having spent almost six months publicly denying any role in the Shin matter and contending that Dongguk University had never contacted Yale University, Yale University's Dec. 29 statements did not undo the damage suffered by Dongguk University," the lawsuit says.
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