Federal Appeals Court Allows Professor's Defamation Suit Against National Academy of Sciences to Proceed

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled today that Luis Jaime Castillo Butters may proceed with defamation claims against the National Academy of Sciences and its president, Marcia McNutt. Castillo, a professor of archaeology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, was elected an international NAS member in 2012.

In spring 2021 a former student filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment, and the NAS rescinded his membership on October 9, 2021. On October 13, McNutt emailed NAS members that the membership had been rescinded for a Code of Conduct violation and directed them to a password-protected site.

Two days later the organization posted on its public website that Castillo's membership was rescinded for a Section 4 violation.

The three-judge panel held that the statements were capable of a defamatory meaning because Section 4 prohibits sexual harassment among other conduct. The court said Castillo adequately alleged falsity by denying that he violated the Code of Conduct. The panel did not decide whether Castillo sufficiently alleged negligence, returning that issue to the district court for initial review.

Pan ruled that Castillo failed to state a defamation-by-implication claim based on McNutt's quoted comment in a ScienceInsider article. The case returns to the district court for further proceedings on the remaining elements of the defamation claims.