Ex-Goldman Analyst, TV Writer Gets Redo in Harvard Diploma Suit

Harvard University must face suit by former Goldman Sachs analyst and television writer Damilare Sonoiki, who alleged the university wrongfully withheld his degree because of sexual misconduct accusations by three female students, the First Circuit said.

Sonoiki plausibly raised a breach of contract claim against Harvard based on alleged ambiguities in college-furnished materials as to when the Ivy League school will withhold a degree, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said Tuesday, reversing in part a trial court dismissal.

Two students filed sexual misconduct complaints against Sonoiki in May 2013. Sonoiki was permitted to speak as the male Harvard orator for Class Day and participated in the school’s graduation ceremony but didn’t receive his diploma.

A third student also filed a complaint, and the investigation and disciplinary process began in June 2013. Sonoiki was dismissed from the university in December 2014.

He sued Harvard in 2019, and appealed after the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts said he failed to state viable claims that Harvard breached his contractual rights or that he was denied basic fairness during the investigation and appeal process.

Allegations Plausible

If the facts show that a university has failed to meet a student’s reasonable expectations,the university has committed a breach, the Boston-based appellate court said in a unanimous ruling.

The appeals court agreed with Sonoiki that the student handbook and other materials were ambiguous as to when a student’s degree will be withheld—either as soon as a disciplinary case began or, as Sonoiki argues, only once a disciplinary charge had been issued.

Sonoiki plausibly alleged he reasonably expected his degree would issue at the graduation ceremony and therefore plausibly alleged Harvard breached the contract between them when it withheld his degree before issuing any disciplinary charges, the three-judge panel said.

However, Sonoiki didn’t tie his arguments about the ways he alleges he was deprived of basic fairness to what the university’s disciplinary procedures actually say about fairness, the court said, affirming dismissal of that claim.

After School

Sonoiki worked for Goldman until 2015.

In 2018, he pleaded guilty to leaking nonpublic information about pending mergers to Mychal Kendricks, his friend and an NFL linebacker. In return, he received cash and tickets to Philadelphia Eagles games. Kendricks also pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading, which prosecutors said made him $1.2 million.

After his stint at Goldman, Sonoiki was a writer for The Simpsons and Black-ish television shows.

Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson wrote the opinion, joined by Judges Jeffrey R. Howard and Gustavo A. Gelpi Jr.

Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP and Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP represented Sonoiki. O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Todd & Weld LLP represented Harvard.

The case is Sonoiki v. Harvard University, 1st Cir., No. 20-01689, 6/14/22.