After Losing Tenure, Francesca Gino Maintains Her Innocence

After being stripped of tenure last week by Harvard University, Francesca Gino is maintaining her innocence and strongly denying allegations of academic fraud. Her loss of tenure from Harvard Business School, she says, has made her “deeply sad and disappointed.”

“From the start, I have said that I did not commit any academic misconduct and I want to reconfirm that statement,” Gino tells Poets&Quants. “And from the very start, Harvard has blocked me from defending myself publicly. First, HBS forbade me from discussing the case while their process was underway. Later, the University forbade me from discussing the case during their process to revoke my tenure.

“I am deeply sad and disappointed that the University has concluded as it has. But now that this process is over, I am free to show why its conclusion is so clearly wrong. I will continue the fight and do everything in my power to right this wrong. I will share whatever I can publicly over time. Stay tuned.”

COMMENTS FOLLOW A HISTORIC DECISION BY HARVARD TO REVOKE HER TENURE

Gino, who has a pending $25 million lawsuit against Harvard, the business school and its dean, made her comments in a written statement after Poets&Quants asked for her reaction to the university’s historic decision last week to revoke her tenure. The university decision, announced in a closed-door meeting with business faculty last week, officially put to an end Gino’s lifetime employment protections at HBS. Tenure revocation represents the most severe discipline a university can impose, and it may well be the first time. in Harvard’s history that tenure was taken from one of its professors.

It has been nearly two years since Harvard’s Office of the President notified Gino on July 28 of 2023 that it had begun the process of reviewing her tenure over allegations of research misconduct. The tenure review was initiated by HBS Dean Srikant Datar who by then had put Gino on an unpaid administrative leave, banned her from campus, revoked her named professorship, and prevented the professor from publishing on Harvard Business School platforms.

Gino’s loss of tenure represents the first time Harvard University has forcibly stripped a tenured faculty member’s position since the 1940s, when the American Association of University Professors formalized tenure rules. Tenured faculty have long been considered invincible. More often than not, professors who are under pressure from a  university administration voluntarily surrender their tenure or simply retire.

UNCLEAR HOW THE TENURE REVOCATION IMPACTS HER $25 MILLION LAWSUIT VS. HARVARD

The decision is yet another extraordinary development in a widening controversy over accusations that Gino, an award-winning behavioral scientist, has been accused of fabricating data in at least four published research papers, and possibly many more. After a three-person investigation committee found her guilty of research misconduct in 2023, Dean Datar placed Gino on unpaid administrative leave, took away all her benefits, including healthcare, banned her from campus and Harvard’s publishing platforms, and began the unusual process of stripping her of tenure. The controversy has led to widespread media coverage, including The New York Times and The New Yorker, and  the lawsuit against Dean Datar, the university, and the authors of the Data Colada blog that first raised the accusations. Seven tenured professors at Harvard Business School–all writing anonymously–have also attacked the dean for his handling of the case.

It’s unclear how the revocation of tenure may impact her case against Harvard and Dean Datar. Though a federal judge dismissed Gino’s defamation claims in September, the judge opened the door for litigation over Gino’s claim that Harvard breached its contract with her by subjecting her to disciplinary measures in violation of its own disciplinary and tenure policies. U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun then wrote that Dean Datar’s decision to place Gino on unpaid leave for two years could form the basis for a valid claim of breach of contract, writing that the sanctions were tantamount to “removal of her tenure status.”

“In substance, she has been stripped of any ability to be a professor for at least those two years, without knowing whether she will be reinstated afterwards,” wrote the judge.  She added that the lawsuit plausibly alleges that Professor Gino’s secure, lifetime position as a professor has been interrupted, effectively constituting removal of her tenure status, such that it would be premature for me to dismiss her claims on this issue.”

ADDING GENDER DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS TO HER LAWSUIT

In a 40-page decision, the judge noted Gino’s argument that Harvard spent three weeks to create a new interim disciplinary policy just for her. “The Interim Policy was never vetted by HBS faculty. On information and belief, HBS’s past practice has been to take many months to create policies applicable to faculty members. Prior HBS policies have been commonly vetted by HBS faculty.”

Despite the major setback, Gino’s lawyers had put a positive spin on Joun’s decision. “We are pleased with the court’s decision to allow this litigation to continue and that Harvard will have to answer for how they have destroyed her career and put every member of the Harvard faculty at risk,” Andrew Miltenberg, Gino’s lawyer, wrote in a statement. Miltenberg claimed the decision “clearly demonstrates Harvard treated Professor Gino differently from other misconduct investigations and their own stated policies.”

Since then, however, Gino has added to her lawsuit claims of Title VII violations and gender discrimination, asserting that the university dealt her a harsher punishment than male professors accused of similar misconduct. She also has expanded her legal representation to include lawyers from employment firm Hartley Michon Robb Hannon LLP in the ongoing lawsuit. Lawyers Patrick J. Hannon and Barbara A. Robb joined Gino’s legal team on Jan. 27.

DON’T MISS: HARVARD STRIPS TENURE FROM HBS SUPERSTAR PROF FRANCESCA GINO or HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL’S DAMNING UNSEALED REPORT ON FRANCESCA GINO