Yale Professor Who Diagnosed Dershowitz and Trump in Tweet Loses Appeal

A professor lost her—“voluntary,” as Yale puts it—position after tweeting about the two. The courts have dismissed her lawsuit.

Bandy X. Lee, who was, as Yale put it, a “voluntary” assistant clinical professor, lost her appointment after her tweets. She sued Yale in 2021, asking a federal judge to reinstate her and award her monetary damages, among other relief.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2023/06/29/yale-professor-who-diagnosed-dershowitz-tweet-loses

 

This type of issue (that got her in trouble) has come up before. She knew better and let her political concerns cloud her professional judgement and ethics. Dershowitz is no lightweight.

Nice arrangement she had. You volunteer and get some benefits and Yale's name attached to you. I could use an office.

 

It was an interesting legal strategy but a clear violation of the Goldwater Rule. If she didn't want to lose the "large amount of income" that Yale's appointment offered her, she shouldn't have broken a basic APA rule. The specific quote is in the article as well:

She continues to say that Trump is mentally ill - a statement that I certainly understand but obviously have no direct evidence to support absent of a clinical assessment.

 

Yes. Certain professions carry different standards and issues because you are a member of that profession. A member of the public could get away with statements that appear to diagnose someone because it is an uninformed opinion of someone who is not a member of a profession charged with making diagnoses (could get sued I suppose for libel or slander). But when a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, or Licensed Clinical Social Worker does it (all can diagnose and treat mental disorders) and you are throwing your professional credentials in it by the fact of who you are, you can cross violate ethical and professional standards. I imagine Psychiatric Nurses and Substance Use Therapists could also get in trouble because they are in allied professions and someone could make the case they are crossing professional boundaries. For example, a Substance Use/Addictions Therapist diagnoses and treats those disorders but cannot treat other DSM categories outside their scope of practice. If she makes statements appearing to diagnose someone with psychosis, narcissist personality disorders, and so on, someone could file an ethics complaint.

Similarly, judges are expected to be cautious about what they say and do in public. Different standards and duties because of their profession.

 

Weird thing is that attorneys (who you think would know better) seem to frequently get in trouble with their Bar Associations.