NEWS
25 April 2024

Judge dismisses superconductivity physicist’s lawsuit against university

Ranga Dias sued his university, in part, for allegedly conducting a biased investigation, which found he had committed extensive scientific misconduct.

By Dan Garisto

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by superconductivity physicist Ranga Dias against his employer, the University of Rochester in New York. In February, a university investigation found that he had committed scientific misconduct by, among other things, fabricating data to claim the discovery of superconductors — materials with zero electrical resistance — at room temperature. Dias filed the lawsuit against the university for allegedly violating his academic freedom and conducting a biased investigation into his work.

On 19 April, Monroe County Supreme Court justice Joseph Waldorf denied Dias’s petitions and dismissed the lawsuit as premature. The matter “is not ripe for judicial review”, Waldorf wrote (see Supplementary information), because, although Rochester commissioned an independent review that found Dias had committed misconduct, it has not yet finished taking administrative action. The university provost has recommended that Dias be fired, but a final decision is still forthcoming.

A spokesperson for the university said Rochester was “pleased” with the justice’s ruling, and reiterated that its investigation was “carried out in a fair manner” and reached a conclusion that it thinks is correct.

Dias did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer, Morgan Levy, referred Nature’s news team to documents filed with the lawsuit in which Dias responded to the university’s investigation.

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