From Monday's decision by Judge Samantha Elliott (D.N.H.) in Wood v. Dartmouth College:
Plaintiff Justin Wood was Dartmouth University's Men's Cross-Country coach for nearly two years, until August 2022. He alleges that Porscha Dobson Harnden, who served as the Director of Dartmouth Track & Field and Cross Country during his tenure and for roughly two years thereafter, made defamatory remarks about him to third parties after he left….
Consistent with this standard of review, the court assumes that the following facts taken from the amended complaint are true. Dartmouth hired Wood as the Head Coach of its Men's Cross-Country Team on November 16, 2020. In her capacity as the Marjorie & Herbert Chase '30 Director of Dartmouth Track & Field and Cross Country, Harnden was Wood's supervisor. During his employment, Wood reported and objected to certain of Harnden's practices, including allegedly falsifying COVID-19 testing documentation to allow sick athletes to practice and compete, and potential admissions fraud. On August 19, 2022, Wood and Dartmouth entered into a separation agreement and a general release agreement (separation agreement)….
The court, among other things, allowed Wood's defamation claims to go forward as to the retroactive removal of his name from past online rosters:
