Yale fires back at law students' lawsuit over Amy Chua probe

(Reuters) - Yale University has asked a federal court to toss a lawsuit by two law students who claim administrators retaliated against them for refusing to aid their investigation into high-profile law professor Amy Chua.

In a motion to dismiss filed on Monday, Yale said its anti-retaliation policy wasn’t in place when the events occurred, and covers only retaliation based on complaints of discrimination or harassment-linked protected characteristics such as race and gender that don't apply to the case.

The school also said the students had not shown its actions harmed their health or careers.

The plaintiffs' attorney, John Balestriere, said Tuesday that he is still reviewing Yale's motion.

"We are confident that our clients have pleaded claims which should proceed to trial, and look forward to litigating the motion," he said.

Law students Sierra Stubbs and Gavin Jackson sued Yale in November, also naming as defendants law dean Heather Gerken and two other administrators. They claim they lost networking and career opportunities after they refused to make a statement against Chua, who rose to fame in 2011 with the publication of her controversial parenting book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother."

The law school investigated Chua in the spring of 2021 for allegedly violating an agreement not to socialize with students off campus. Chua has denied any wrongdoing.

Stubbs and Jackson, who failed in their bid to proceed with the case under pseudonyms, were the focus of a “dossier” created by another law student that sought to prove Chua was hosting students at her home.

Both students met twice with Chua at her home in the spring, but only to privately discuss alienation they felt as minorities at the law school, their complaint said. Jackson is Asian American, while Stubbs is Black. She is on leave from the law school, according to court documents.

Because they refused to corroborate the allegations against Chua, Stubbs and Jackson allege administrators pressured a professor not to select them for a prestigious research post that could pave the way to federal clerkships and other opportunities.

The defendants responded Monday that the plaintiffs can’t point to any specific losses they suffered as a result of the school’s actions.

“They speculate that they will ‘potentially suffer losses in the form of clerkships,’ but they don’t allege what they actually lost,” Yale said. “In fact, they admit they haven’t even applied for clerkships.”

The case is Sierra Stubbs and Gavin Jackson v. Heather Gerken, Ellen Cosgrove, Yaseen Eldik, and Yale University in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, No. 3:21-cv-01525

For Stubbs and Jackson: John Balestriere of Balestriere Fariello

For Yale: Jonathan Freiman of Wiggin and Dana

Read more:

Yale Law students 'blackballed' for refusing to lie about professor, lawsuit says

Yale reappoints law dean Heather Gerken amid campus controversies

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