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Troll_Bait
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: [T]eaching experience doesn't matter much. -Lee Young-chan (pictured)
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 Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:37 am Post subject: Yale to Dongguk University: See you in court |
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http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2887994
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Yale to Dongguk University: See you in court
Yale University will fight a $50 million damage suit filed by South Korea�s Dongguk University over Yale�s error in certifying a forged degree and its belated apology for the mistake, its spokesman said.
The legal wrangling between the two universities revolves around a scandal involving Shin Jeong-ah, a South Korean art curator who landed a job at Dongguk University with a forged doctorate mistakenly confirmed by Yale in 2005.
�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,� University spokesman Tom Conroy was quoted as telling the Yale Daily News in an e-mail on Thursday.
In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut Monday, Dongguk accuses Yale of being �negligent and careless� in verifying the academic record and defaming Dongguk�s reputation by denying the mistake.
�Dongguk University was publicly humiliated and deeply shamed in the eyes of the Korean population,� the school said in the complaint.
Yale claims it has repeatedly apologized for the mistake, and it is Shin, rather than Yale, who committed the wrongdoing. Dongguk�s spokesman, Byeon Jae-deok, said the school will pursue the case in court. |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:50 am Post subject: |
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ah sh*t 
Ks can scratch Yale off their list of schools to apply to ..... |
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Scotticus
Joined: 18 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| Hahaha. Classic passing of the buck. "It's not our fault, don't hold US accountable for our own errors." |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:05 am Post subject: |
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$50 MILLION?????
I once talked to a person who was being sued for libel by a political lobbyist. He wasn't worried about the monetary damages. He said the lobbyist already had such a sleazy reputation, he didn't see how he could be awarded any damages.
Does Dongguk University have a reputation that is worth $50 million? |
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hogwonguy1979
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:12 am Post subject: |
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| I want Judge Judy to take the case |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:55 am Post subject: |
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Hogwonguy,
Actually we both know Judge Judy would kick the Koreans out of the court room so fast, their ***** would be on fire.
I think this particular quote says it all:
"Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining." |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, but under Korean law you can receive an award for damage to your business reputation regardless of the veracity of your claim.
Fortunately, Yale isn't in Korea. Dongguk Boo-hoo-hooniversity. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Don't worry, we'll get it out of Korean dry cleaners who ruin our pants. |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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OK, class, what's wrong with this sentence:
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| Yale University will fight a $50 million damage suit filed by South Korea�s Dongguk University over Yale�s error in certifying a forged degree and its belated apology for the mistake, its spokesman said. |
Note that this sentence is from a Korean newspaper:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2887994
Do not assume that because it is one sentence that there is just one error. |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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Here's another version of this story:
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Yale faces $50M lawsuit in phony doctorate case
By Randall Beach, Register Staff
NEW HAVEN � A prominent South Korean university is seeking at least $50 million in damages from Yale University for allegedly supplying false information about whether a professor had received her doctorate from Yale.
In a civil lawsuit filed in Hartford federal court, attorneys for Dongguk University charged Yale�s actions seriously damaged Dongguk�s �stellar reputation.�
The lawsuit stated that Dongguk is �one of the most prestigious Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world� and that Yale officials �humiliated and shamed� Dongguk, leading to a government probe, costing it alumni and corporate donations as well as government grants.
In 2005, Yale representatives mistakenly confirmed that Shin Jeong-ah, who had been curator of the Kumho Art Museum, had received an art history doctorate from Yale�s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
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But Yale officials later realized the documents submitted to Yale by Shin and then sent to Dongguk contained a phony copy of a Yale degree. The Yale administrators also determined there is no record of Shin ever being enrolled at Yale.
Two months ago, Yale officials issued a statement confirming they bungled a letter of inquiry sent from Dongguk in September 2005. The graduate school erroneously confirmed Shin�s fake claim, which consisted of a letter signed by Pamela Schirmeister, associate dean of the graduate school.
Yale University President Richard C. Levin also wrote an apology several months ago. But Dongguk administrators, buffeted by ongoing Korean media reports about the �Shin-gate� scandal, clearly were not satisfied.
During an interview Wednesday, New Haven attorney Ira Grudberg, who filed the suit with New York attorney Robert Weiner, called the apology �too little, too late.�
�Face is very important to Asians,� Grudberg said.
Indeed, the plaintiffs� writ stated, �In Korean culture, one�s reputation affects not only the level of respect he, she or it can expect from others, but also affects the dignity, credibility, social status and core identity of that person or entity.�
Yale spokesman Tom Conroy on Wednesday said, �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.�
Conroy added, �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 goodwill and friendship.�
But in its writ, Dongguk�s attorneys wrote: �Because of the false statements 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.�
Shin, who landed a job as art history assistant professor at Dongguk in part because of her purported Yale degree, is now incarcerated in Korea and faces forgery charges.
She was once described in South Korea as the �art world�s Cinderella� based on her fabricated resume, which also included a fake degree from the University of Kansas.
Dongguk hired Shin as an assistant professor in September 2005. But after questions were raised about her Yale degree, Dongguk officials sent a registered letter asking Yale to confirm it, according to the lawsuit.
In a Sept. 22, 2005 fax, Schirmeister confirmed the degree, the lawsuit added,
In June 2007, after receiving information that Shin had not written a Yale dissertation as she claimed, Dongguk asked Yale officials for a copy of it, the lawsuit stated. A Yale librarian then told Dongguk that Yale had no record of the dissertation and another Yale official at the department of art history allegedly then told Dongguk officials Shin did not receive a doctorate.
After issuing their recent apologies, Yale officials changed their procedures for authenticating alumni degrees. They said they now rely on their own records rather than any external papers.
Randall Beach can be reached at [email protected] or 789-5766. |
http://www.nhregister.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/BigDaily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.content=%2FMAIN_REP%2FArticle%2F2008%2F03%2F26%2F1799645 |
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whatever
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: Korea: More fun than jail.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Korea is so pathetic sometimes... |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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whatever lamented:
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| Korea is so pathetic sometimes... |
Change the last word to "most of the time" and I'd agree.
Of course, to be fair, Korean higher education has such a sterling record in research, such as cloning, and in awarding degrees that were well-earned, that one can understand why they'd resent the Yale staff oversight.  |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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And more from the Nutmeg State:
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Dongguk sues Yale for $50M
Thomas Kaplan
Staff Reporter
Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Korean university to which Yale accidentally verified the authenticity of a fabricated doctorate has filed a suit against the University, seeking at least $50 million in damages for harm to its reputation, a Korean newspaper reported on its Web site Tuesday.
Officials at Dongguk University were apparently unsatisfied by Yale�s apology this winter for its part in what has become known in the Korean press as �Shin-gate,� an international scandal in which former Dongguk art history professor Shin Jeong-ah landed her prestigious job in part because of what she presented as a doctorate degree in art history from Yale�s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Shin never attended Yale, but she fabricated a letter from the school documenting her degree � and when asked by Dongguk University officials to confirm the authenticity of that letter in 2005, Yale officials mistakenly did so.
Then, when questions arose last summer regarding the authenticity of Shin�s credentials, Yale first denied having verified that Shin graduated from Yale. In December, Yale officials realized their mistake and apologized for the first time.
But that was apparently not enough to placate Oh Young-kyo, the president of Dongguk University. In an interview with the Korea Times last month, Oh said officials at his university would take legal action against Yale regarding the situation.
This week, they followed through on Oh�s threat: The university filed a civil lawsuit in Connecticut District Court on Monday, said Dongguk�s attorney, Robert Weiner of the U.S. firm McDermott Will & Emery, according to the Korean newspaper the Chosun Ilbo.
Weiner did not return a phone message left at his New York office late Tuesday.
In the suit, Dongguk claims that Yale damaged the Korean university�s reputation with its initial verification of Shin�s doctorate degree, according to the newspaper report. Despite Yale�s subsequent admission of its mistake, Weiner said Dongguk University�s reputation was damaged to the extent that it could not be repaired simply by an apology.
�We can make good our friendship with Yale after we settle our losses due to them,� Oh said last month.
University President Richard Levin declined to comment Tuesday night, and a Yale spokesperson could not be reached for comment. But last month, the University said it thought Oh�s threat was excessive.
�Legal action by Dongguk University against Yale would be regrettable,� Yale Spokesman Tom Conroy wrote in an e-mail message. �We have apologized for the error and explained how we believe it occurred. The wrongdoer, of course, is Jeong Ah Shin, and not Yale.�
The lawsuit, meanwhile, is the latest episode in what has become a major scandal in Korea � and a major source of discomfort for officials at Yale.
The Shin-gate scandal boiled over in the summer, and Shin is now on trial for forgery. Still, even as allegations mounted against her, the former professor denied having fabricated her degree, pointing to a 2005 facsimile from Yale to Dongguk University that verified the authenticity of the letter documenting her Yale degree.
Yale officials quickly declared that the fax transmission, bearing the signature of Graduate School Associate Dean Pamela Schirmeister, had been fabricated � until December, when Yale officials realized that the fax transmission had actually been sent, but only by what they later called an administrative error, and one for which Levin strenuously apologized.
�I am writing to convey to you my deep personal regret for the administrative errors that led Yale University mistakenly to confirm to Dongguk University (in 2005) that Ms. Shin Jeong-ah had been awarded a Yale Ph.D.,� Levin wrote to Dongguk officials this winter, according to the report in the Korea Times.
�I am dismayed that Yale�s errors may have contributed to delays in detecting Ms. Shin�s fraud,� Levin continued. �I sincerely hope that we may soon put this unfortunate incident behind us, and begin to strengthen the ties between Dongguk University and Yale. Please accept my sincere apology.�
In the meantime, the University has changed its procedures for authenticating alumni degrees. Officials will no longer confirm whether a person holds a Yale degree based on any external papers they are asked to authenticate and will rather rely on their own records when making such an assessment, officials said. |
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24021
Oh, and don't miss the comments:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/comments/24021 |
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TML1976
Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:15 am Post subject: |
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reading all three articles I have to say that I think Dongguk has a case here.
From what I gather they (dongguk) took the proper steps to verifiy the credentials of a person they where hiring and Yale made the mistake of verifying them without due diligence.
Yale is saying that they have apoligized for the mistake and that this should be enough, but Dongguk is claiming that they have lost money from different sources as a result of this.
As much as some of you may be annoyed by this, when looked at objectively, Dongguk has a strong case. |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:59 am Post subject: |
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TML1976 wrote:
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reading all three articles I have to say that I think Dongguk has a case here.
From what I gather they (dongguk) took the proper steps to verifiy the credentials of a person they where hiring and Yale made the mistake of verifying them without due diligence.
Yale is saying that they have apoligized for the mistake and that this should be enough, but Dongguk is claiming that they have lost money from different sources as a result of this.
As much as some of you may be annoyed by this, when looked at objectively, Dongguk has a strong case. |
Well, obviously, Dongguk's case is not entirely without merit. But I'm not sure I would go so far as to say they have a case, in the sense that they are likely to win.
For one thing, they are suing for damage to the school's reputation. Was it Yale that was responsible for that damage?
Or was it the lying *beep* masquerading as an art expert, and her high-level Korean government lover-patron(s) who were responsible for the damage to the school's reputation?
Which came first?
My understanding is the *beep* was hired first, and Yale was contacted as an afterthought, probably by someone at Dongguk who was not in the loop on who, exactly, she was. Most people at Dongguk apparently knew that she was someone that you did not ask questions about, or they would have checked her credentials before hiring her.
Now I'm guessing that if this goes to trial, Yale, having access to some competent legal advice if for no other reason that they are home to a backwater school of jurisprudence called the Yale Law School, will have some questions about this matter. Now let's see, I wonder who they are going to call as witnesses?
Anyone want to help me compile a list of witnesses for Yale to call?
Anyone want to place a bet on whether this case gets to within 1,000 miles of an American courtroom? And American cable court TV? Boy, that would be one juicy show! One can only hope. If it does, I just wish that N.Y. Bar boy wonder from Korea Justice represents Korea.
Or is this just another Korean PR stunt meant strictly for domestic consumption?
If there's anyone getting a bad name in all this it is Buddhism. Buddhism should sue Dongguk for harming its reputation.
Last edited by flummuxt on Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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