Former Yale student may sue accusor for defamation

A former student at Yale University sued a woman who had accused him of rape. The claim was that the woman had defamed and tortiously interfered with his educational contract. In particular, plaintiff claimed that the woman's rape allegation at the in-house university hearing was defamatory. The question then became complicated: was the woman immune from suit because she made the allegation during a hearing? 

The case is Khan v. Yale University, issued on October 25. Usually, statements made during evidentiary hearings and trials cannot predicate a defamation claim, as the legal system wants people to testify freely without fear of any lawsuit. But this was not the usual evidentiary hearing or trial. It was a University hearing that did not have all the attributes of a hearing, i.e., no one was testifying under oath, etc. Under that circumstance, could plaintiff sue Jane Doe? 

The Court of Appeals (Raggi, Kearse and Livingston) referred the case to the Connecticut Supreme Court to issue a definitive ruling under state law whether this was truly a quasi-judicial hearing. The Connecticut Supreme Court answered that question in the negative, and the Second Circuit uses that ruling to allow plaintiff to proceed with his case against Jane Doe.

The University hearing is not your typical quasi-judicial hearing, the courts have said in this case, because (1) there are no sufficient procedural safeguards to ensure the evidence is reliable and that the hearing is fundamentally fair, (2) no one testifies under oath, (3) there is no meaningful cross-examination, as the accused's lawyer cannot question the victim and can only submit questions for the hearing officers to then direct toward the victim, (4) the parties to the hearing do not have a meaningful opportunity to call witnesses, (5) the accused is denied full assistance of counsel, (6) and an adequate record of the hearings are not maintained that would allow for a meaningful appeal.

As the University hearings are far from the hearings we associate with the fact-finding process, the Second Circuit holds, the victim's rape allegation is actionable in a defamation claim brought by plaintiff. The case returns to the district court for further proceedings.