<< Previous Section | < Previous Page | Next Page > | Next Section >> Case: Data Falsification (page 4 of 6) Narrator: The inquiry panel impounded all of the relevant laboratory notebooks. It tried to get Jim Liu's personal notes but he denied their existence. With the help of an expert from another university, the panel decided that the combination of the paper and the laboratory notes were not sufficient to allow anyone to prepare the regulator in question. They could not determine whether the purification had indeed been accomplished. The experimental notes had been altered in a suspicious manner. They recommended a full investigation. Dean Stoessel was concerned that the inquiry panel was too eager to suggest misconduct in what to him seemed to be sloppy science, that was facing validation in other laboratories. Couldn't Ed Milani just repurify the transduction regulator, define the conditions and make the whole problem disappear? However, the report of the inquiry board constrained him to notify the Office of Research Integrity and initiate a full-blown investigation. Questions: What are Dean Stoessel's degrees of freedom in this case? Can he ignore the committee? Can he defer or delay action? How should the proposed investigation committee be organized? expertise lawyers Narrator: When notified of the impending investigation, Professor Milani initiated legal action for defamation of character and named Jennie Foster, Patricia Frankel and the University. Ms. Foster, unprotected by the University, refused to testify further and under the advice of her attorney, attempted to withdraw her statement, which, she said, was made under duress. Professor Frankel carried on her duties gamely but she knew that feelings in her department supporting Professor Milani ran high. Why, they remonstrated, was she so ready to accuse a longstanding and productive colleague? She felt her chairmanship slipping away. She used her influence to get Ms. Foster a training position at the NIH, but Jennie, discouraged, was beginning to think about other career possibilities. Question: How can society provide adequate protection for righteous whistleblowers without providing excessive protection that would allow chronic malcontents to harass their bosses? << Previous Section | < Previous Page | Next Page > | Next Section >> Chapter 8 Quick Links Malfeasance and Misconduct Definitions Process Whistleblowing Litigation, the New Approach to Research Management The Importance of Trust Cases Bibliography Chapter 8 Download (PDF)