Yale wants names of 'Doe' plaintiffs revealed in retaliation lawsuit

(Reuters) - Yale University has asked a court to unmask two student plaintiffs who allege they suffered retaliation for refusing to aid the investigation of a well-known Yale Law School professor.

The law students — described as Jane and John Doe in their Nov. 15 lawsuit — don’t meet the standard to sue anonymously, the university argued in a Dec. 6 motion asking a federal judge in Connecticut to deny their bid to pursue the case under pseudonyms.

“Plaintiffs here seek anonymity because they worry about having to stand up publicly for what they allege, not because they fear for their lives or because they are vulnerable children,” Yale's lawyers said.

In an earlier motion for a protective order, the plaintiffs argued they should be allowed to proceed anonymously because they are likely to face social and professional stigma as a result of the lawsuit.

Neither a university spokesperson nor the plaintiffs’ attorney, John Balestriere, immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

The plaintiffs claim administrators pressured a law professor not to hire them for a prestigious research fellowship after they declined to make a statement against Yale Law professor Amy Chua. Law school administrators investigated Chua this spring for allegedly violating an earlier agreement not to socialize with students at her home.

Chua, who gained fame in 2011 with the publication of her controversial parenting book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," has denied any wrongdoing.

The plaintiffs said in their complaint that they did meet with Chua at her home twice, but only to privately discuss the alienation they felt as minorities at the law school. Those meetings came to light after a law school classmate compiled a “dossier” of text messages purporting to show that Chua had hosted students at her home.

But that dossier, as well as a popular legal blog and a campus newspaper, have already named the plaintiffs, which further erodes their case for anonymity in court, Yale’s motion argued.

“Fairness requires that they stand behind their charges publicly,” it said.

The case is Doe v. Gerken, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, No. 3:21-cv-01525

For the Does: John Balestriere of Balestriere Fariello

For Yale: Jonathan Freiman and Paul Tuchmann of Wiggin and Dana

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