Dongguk Univ. v. Yale Univ.

• Citation: 734 F.3d 113
• Decision Date: 15 August 2013
• Docket Number: Docket No. 12–2698–cv.
• Parties: DONGGUK UNIVERSITY, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. YALE UNIVERSITY, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

734 F.3d 113

DONGGUK UNIVERSITY, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.YALE UNIVERSITY, Defendant–Appellee.

Docket No. 12–2698–cv.

United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.

Argued: March 4, 2013.

Decided: Aug. 15, 2013.

Appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Melançon, J.^*) granting in part and denying in part Defendant's motion for summary judgment and an order granting Defendant's motion for reconsideration. The district court correctly dismissed all of Plaintiff's claims. We therefore AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

Andrew Kratenstein, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, New York, N.Y. (Robert A. Weiner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, New York, NY, Ira B. Grudberg, Jacobs, Grudberg, Belt, Dow & Katz P.C., New Haven, CT, on the brief), for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Felix J. Springer (Howard Fetner, on the brief), Day Pitney LLP, Hartford, CT, for Defendant–Appellee.

Before: FUENTES, SMITH, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.^**

FUENTES, Circuit Judge:

This appeal concerns a defamation, negligence, and reckless conduct suit by Dongguk University of South Korea against Yale University over a bogus Ph.D. Dongguk University hired Shin Jeong-ah as an art history professor after Yale mistakenly confirmed her doctoral degree. What started out as a straightforward correspondence between universities about a student who sought to teach at one school and claimed she had graduated from the other school, now requires that we determine whether the mistaken answer given by Yale is entitled to heightened constitutional protections under the First Amendment. Dongguk, a prominent Korean university, claims that Yale acted negligently and engaged in reckless and wanton conduct when responding to an inquiry about whether Jeong ah Shin had received a Ph.D. from Yale.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Dongguk's Initial Correspondence with Yale

In August 2005, Shin Jeong-ah applied for a position as an art history professor at Dongguk University in South Korea. Dongguk, which was founded in 1906 is “one of the most prestigious Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world.” App. 34. Dongguk is well regarded throughout Korea for its Buddhist studies curriculum, basic sciences, literature, and cultural programs, and has produced Nobel Prize-winning authors and poets. App. 34–35. The University's “alumni hold important and prestigious positions in Korean business, cultural, and governmental organizations.” App. 35.

In her application, Shin stated that she had served as the curator for two Korean museums and was a lecturer at several well respected Korean universities. She also submitted a document to Dongguk on Yale University letterhead purportedly certifying that she had received a Ph.D. from Yale in art history in May 2005 (the “Certification”). The Certification contained an exact reproduction of Yale Associate Dean Pamela Schirmeister's signature but misspelled both Schirmeister's typed name as “Schirmestr” and the word “century” in her listed concentration “Twentieth Centry Art.” App.1909. Nevertheless, Dongguk hired Shin on September 1, 2005. Four days later, Dongguk sent Yale a letter with the Certification attached, seeking to verify its authenticity (the “Inquiry Letter”). The Inquiry Letter reached Schirmeister who responded by fax on September 22, 2005, stating, “I am confirming that the attached letter [the Certification] was issued by the Yale Graduate School and signed by me” (the “Schirmeister Fax”). App. 312.

B. Dongguk's Requests for Clarification from Yale

In early June 2007, nearly two years after hiring Shin, Dongguk learned that Shin may have plagiarized the dissertation that she provided to Dongguk. Consequently, Cho Euiyon, Director of Dongguk's Office of Management and Supervision, emailed an inquiry to a Yale librarian who responded that Yale had no record of Shin's dissertation. Director Cho then emailed an inquiry to the graduate registrar for Yale's art history department mentioning that Shin had identified a Yale professor as her dissertation advisor. The registrar informed Cho that Shin had not received a Ph.D. from Yale and forwarded the correspondence to the purported advisor who in turn responded to Cho that she neither advised Shin nor knew of her.

By mid-June, the Korean press began reaching out to Yale regarding Shin's degree. One reporter told the registrar that “[i]f [Shin] is lying mentioning Yale,” it would be problematic for Yale's reputation in Korea. App.2086. The registrar forwarded the reporter's inquiry to others at Yale, noting that she found it “very distressing” and “seem[ed] to have ‘litigation’ written all over it.” App.2097–98. Thereafter, Yale Deputy General Counsel Susan Carney and Yale Dean Edward Barnaby began referring all Shin-related media inquiries to Yale's Office of Public Affairs. In light of the scandal surrounding her credentials, Shin resigned from Dongguk in late June 2007, and the Korean media began reporting that Shin may have lied about receiving a Yale Ph.D.

In July 2007, Dongguk's President Youngkyo Oh wrote Yale's President Richard Levin to determine if Shin had received a Ph.D. from Yale. President Oh noted the “contradictory” answers Dongguk had received from Yale on that question in the past and attached the Schirmeister Fax that had validated Shin's purported Certification. App. 2239. Deputy General Counsel Carney prepared a response to Oh's letter and sought edits from Dean Barnaby. Carney expressed “concern about the apparent fax lines on the [Schirmeister Fax] transmittal sheets, and the apparent receipt within the Dean's office of the 2005 inquiry” but queried whether “that is false, too.” App. 2263. Carney was also forwarded an email from a Korean museum official that had initially been sent to Gila Reinstein, Assistant Director of Yale's Public Affairs Office who was responsible for Shin media inquiries. The email drew attention to the “fax number of [the] Associate Dean's office” on the Schirmeister Fax.App. 2284. Carney commented to the Yale President's assistant that she and “Barnaby ... were troubled about the fax line” at the top of the Schirmeister Fax but noted that “it's pretty easy to make up fake documents including such lines these days.” App. 2282. Nonetheless, she found it “troubling” that she had not previously seen the 2005 Inquiry Letter from Dongguk, and she referenced the email Reinstein had forwarded, pointing out that the Schirmeister Fax contained “indicia of authenticity ... that seemed to have come from the Yale Graduate School.” App. 2282–83. Still, Carney did not ask Schirmeister if she had sent the fax. Instead, she asked Yale Police Department Sergeant Peter Bruno to “look” into the matter and to determine if Shin had an “accomplice” at Yale. The record on appeal does not reflect that the Yale Police Department ultimately conducted any further investigation or interviewed any witnesses on the matter. App. 2655, 2735.

On July 10, 2007, Carney responded to President Oh's letter and stated that Shin was never a student at Yale and that the documents that Dongguk had provided Yale, including Shin's purported Certification and the Schirmeister Fax, were “not authentic.” App. 3779. She emphasized that she had no knowledge how the documents were issued or if they were provided to Dongguk and that Yale was “investigating” the matter. App. 2265. Dongguk's Office of Management and Supervision Director Cho repeatedly followed up with Carney on the results of Yale's investigation, and Carney responded that “[i]nvestigators here are examining the documents ... and will be making further inquiries.” App. 1212.

In late August 2007, Director Cho informed Carney that Dongguk had learned that the Inquiry Letter had been delivered on September 20, 2005 to an individual at Yale named Michael Moore, and she provided Carney with a U.S. Postal Service tracking record indicating that the letter was signed for by “M MOORE YCM” in New Haven. App. 1234. Carney responded that neither “YCM” nor a “Michael Moore” was affiliated with the Graduate School office where Schirmeister worked. App. 1234. Cho then responded with a link to the Yale Central Mailroom's website, listing Michael Moore as a staff member. After much correspondence, Cho provided Carney with the mailing label and receipt for Dongguk's Inquiry Letter, but Carney never answered Cho's questions about whether the Inquiry Letter was ultimately delivered to Schirmeister.

C. Media Response to Shin Scandal

By July 2007, following Shin's resignation from Dongguk, the Korean media began reporting extensively on the “Shin scandal.” There were numerous media inquiries directed at Yale, and Reinstein from the Office of Public Affairs was responsible for responding. On July 17, Reinstein drafted a statement that said that “[a]ny document purporting to support [Shin's] claim is false and was not issued from Yale,” and she sought its approval from Public Affairs Director Helaine Klasky. App. 2309. Klasky asked if there was “language cleared by the GC's office” for Reinstein to use. Id. Between July 10 and 12, Carney had sent and received 16 privileged emails related to Dongguk, including two that copied Reinstein. After Reinstein responded to the media inquiries, she was quoted in articles published on July 19 and July 21 as saying that the Schirmeister Fax was a “fake,” “falsified,” and that Yale had “never received” the original Inquiry Letter. App. 2328, 2332. Dongguk responded to Reinstein's statements by releasing its internal investigation report, which concluded that Dongguk had sent the Inquiry Letter to Yale and received the Schirmeister Fax, which validated Shin's doctorate degree, in response.

After receiving additional media inquiries about the Schirmeister Fax, on July 20, Schirmeister reached out to Reinstein about a media inquiry Schirmeister had received and Schirmeister reached out to Carney on whether to reply. Following an exchange of 13 privileged emails...