Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles has left one claim standing in a former Duke researcher’s lawsuit, and it is the one that goes straight to a jury. The court has ruled that jurors will decide whether Duke punished the scientist after she reported sexual harassment and an assault in 2020. The ruling trims the case to a single Title VII retaliation claim against the university and sets a short jury trial for the June 2026 civil term. At issue is whether a research misconduct review that led to retractions and the end of the researcher’s Duke employment was standard oversight or retaliation for filing the complaint.
Judge Keeps Retaliation Claim Alive
In a March 4 memorandum, Chief Judge Catherine C. Eagles denied Duke’s motion for summary…..