A federal judge in Connecticut has refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Yale University wrongly confirmed a fake doctorate degree that resulted in a South Korean University losing tens of millions o
f dollars and damaging its reputation.
In their 2008 lawsuit, Buddhist-affiliated Dongguk University in Seoul claims that it hired art history professor Shin Jeong-ah after Yale University wrongly confirmed she had earned her doctorate there.
Ms. Jeong-ah went on to have a scandalous affair with Byeon Yang-kyoon, an aide to South Korea’s then president President Roh Moo-hyun.
Ms. Shin was sentenced to 18 months in a South Korean jail in March 2008 for using fake Yale credentials to get her teaching position at Dongguk and for embezzling museum funds. It is alleged that she also faked two degrees from the University of Kansas to obtain a former job in 2005.
Yang-kyoon was accused of using his influence to get Shin hired by Dongguk and was forced to step down from his aide position because of the scandal.
Dongguk is suing Yale for more than $50 million, claiming it lost that amount in government grants, alumni donations and costs of building a law school the government later refused to approve because of the scandal.
