Charles Lieber, professor charged in China case, sues Harvard over legal fees
- Lawsuit says Ivy League school is refusing to pay defence costs and ‘turning its back on a dedicated faculty member’
- Lieber is accused of hiding his ties to the Thousand Talents Plan, which seeks to lure people with knowledge of foreign technology to China
A Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment programme sued the Ivy League school on Friday over its refusal to pay his legal defence costs, accusing it of “turning its back on a dedicated faculty member”.
Charles Lieber, who was chair of the department of chemistry and chemical biology, was arrested in January at his office on campus and charged in federal court with lying about his involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan, a programme designed to lure people with knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property to China.
Lieber’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey, has promised to mount a vigorous defence and has said that “when justice is done, Charlie’s good name will be restored”.
The lawsuit says Harvard denied Lieber’s request to advance his defence costs, has not agreed to reimburse him at all and is demanding that he essentially “prove definitively his innocence to Harvard” before his trial to get financial help.
“Employees who find themselves accused of wrongdoing rely on their employers’ promises to pay their defence costs,” the complaint says.
“Instead of following suit, and supporting their long-standing, well-respected employee, Harvard has placed Professor Lieber on administrative leave, publicly denounced him, improperly characterised the charges against him, and permanently and falsely associated him with academic espionage, forever harming his reputation,” it said.
A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit. The university is cooperating with authorities in the criminal case.
The lawsuit accuses Harvard of breach of contract and says the school’s failure to follow through will leave Lieber, who was diagnosed years ago with a blood cancer, and his family “impoverished”.
“It is disturbing that Harvard acted solely in its own self-interest by turning its back on a dedicated faculty member who suffers from a terminal illness and who is presumed innocent. More importantly, it is illegal,” the lawsuit says.
China must show the US its Thousand Talents Plan has nothing to hide
Authorities say Lieber was paid US$50,000 a month by the Wuhan University of Technology in China under his Thousand Talents Plan contract and awarded more than US$1.5 million to establish a research lab at the Chinese university.
In exchange, prosecutors say, Lieber agreed to apply for patents and do other work on behalf of the Chinese university.
Authorities say Lieber lied about ties to the programme and the Chinese university, telling federal authorities that he was never asked to take part in the Thousand Talents Plan. He has been indicted by a grand jury on two counts of making false statements to authorities – a charge that calls for up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
