Ruling says judge wrong to throw out Ohio U. defamation suit
ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — A state appeals court has revived a defamation lawsuit against Ohio University brought by a former professor blamed in a plagiarism investigation.
A university report had said Bhavin Mehta and other mechanical engineering professors failed to be alert to student copying or even ignored plagiarism.
An Ohio Court of Claims judge threw out Mehta’s lawsuit in 2009 when he ruled the report amounted to opinions that were protected speech under the Ohio Constitution. The Athens Messenger reports the appeals court disagreed this week and overturned the earlier decision, saying the report’s findings were presented as fact and not opinion.
The case has been sent back to the Court of Claims.
The university says in a statement it’s reviewing the appeals court ruling with lawyers.