Ex-Prof, Fired For Plagiarism, Sues Columbia For $200 Million

Madonna Constantine, a former professor at Columbia's Teachers College, is suing the university for $200 million. The lawsuit claims Columbia has defamed her by dismissing her after their plagiarism probe; the Columbia Spectator reports, "The introduction to the 92-page complaint is titled 'the academic lynching of Professor Madonna Constantine,' and states that these allegations were part of an 'invidious scheme to ruin the scholarly reputation of the Plaintiff through a conspiracy to drum up and eventually publish false claims against the Plaintiff.'" (It should be noted two of Constantine's accusers are minorities, one black, one Asian.) A Teachers College spokeperson said, "This case is totally without merit, and we intend to defend against it rigorously." Constantine's tenure at Teachers College included a 2007 incident where a noose was found hanging on her office door; no suspects were ever found.

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By Jen Chung in News on April 22, 2009 4:03 PM

Comments [rss]

Guest

Don't go soft, Columbia

tsol

Bernie Madoff-Goetz: "Columbia brings this shit on themselves by placing such an emphasis on ethnocentrism and stocking their podiums with race hustlers."

Too right!

Bernie Madoff-Goetz

Columbia brings this shit on themselves by placing such an emphasis on ethnocentrism and stocking their podiums with race hustlers. No matter how many Madonna Constantines that you fast-track to the top, they will never be grateful in success or humble in disgrace.

Clarice City

So true.

jchez

Truer words were never spoken!

sharpshoota

I heard she's looking for reparations as well...

AnnaZed

This bat-shit crazy woman must have some sort of perpetual motion machine in the sense of entitlement are of her brain; what a loon.

Spirit of 76

Time for Columbia to file a countersuit seeking legal fees from the plaintiff's attorneys.

valeriob

It's the PineSol lady!

susafsu

That's exactly what I was thinking! It's not really her, though, is it?

valeriob

It's the PineSol lady!

FrankMartin

Wasn't there the question of a security camera catching shots near or of the door at the time the noose was put on the knob. Did it ever come out? I don't think so. anyone else remember. Because there were allegations of it being her.

sj

No, my recollection was that NYPD offered to put up a concealed security camera in the hallway to catch whoever was doing it and she refused. Of course, the reason she refused is that she was the one who was doing it.

Dirk

Ugh. Not this woman again.

Rocknrope

I hope Columbia sticks to its guns and fights this tooth and nail. With any luck, the legal fees will bankrupt this woman, then she'll know better than to cry wolf.

Sleepy

Unfortunately, the only one suffering from legal fees here will be Columbia. She's undoubtedly being represented on a contingent basis, so she'll pay a portion of any award but otherwise pays no fees. Columbia, on the other hand, has to pay significant legal fees to defend frivolous cases like this. Under the English system, the losing party generally pays the attorney's fees for the winning party, which deters a lot of ridiculous lawsuits like this one.

hotstepper

psycho hose beast.

Sleepy

Straight out of the Al Sharpton playbook.

Playing the race card when she clearly ganked her grad students' work and called it her own - you don't get any lower.

I'm just waiting for her to say something about a Jewish conspiracy. Any moment now.