Stanford Professor Must Face Jewish Scholar’s Defamation Claim

An associate professor at Stanford University failed to avoid allegations that he defamed an Israeli postdoctoral scholar before effectively forcing him to resign.

The substance of Danny Hung-Chieh Chou’s allegedly defamatory statements, and allegations about when and to whom those statements were made, are sufficient to survive dismissal, Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said in a Tuesday order.

Shay Laps arrived at Stanford in April 2024 to join Chou’s lab, which does research and development of insulin therapeutics. Laps alleged he was met with hostility from other researchers ...