PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi Anderson has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former employee who claimed Anderson had plagiarized her 1986 doctoral dissertation while attending Purdue University.
According to court documents obtained by WBOC, Anderson claims that former UMES associate professor Donna Satterlee began spreading the allegations in September. The focus of the allegations, according to Anderson, were passages that only appeared in the dissertation’s literature review section that summarized prior research and properly cited other works.
Anderson says Satterlee sent the allegations of plagiarism to multiple media outlets, journalists, and members of the public. WBOC received Satterlee’s allegations against Anderson earlier this month.
Satterlee said she used Turnitin, a standard plagiarism detection tool, to review Anderson’s dissertation. The software returned a 26% similarity to other research work, according to Satterlee.
Earlier last month, Anderson acknowledged the allegations and welcomed a review.
“My commitment has always been - and remains - to serve with honesty, uphold the highest standards of scholarship, and preserve the trust placed in me by the academic community and the public,” Anderson said in a statement on Oct. 6. Anderson said an assessment of the allegations would be conducted.
In her defamation suit against Satterlee, filed on Oct. 24, Anderson says her major professor at Purdue University has already said that no plagiarism or academic misconduct occurred.
The defamation suit also includes counts of intentional infliction of emotional distress, harm to Anderson’s economic opportunities, and injurious falsehood damaging to Anderson’s reputation and business relationships.
Anderson is seeking at least $1 million in damages from Satterlee for alleged reputational, economic, and emotional harm. The suit also asks for the court to require Satterlee cease publication of the allegations and publish a retraction.
Satterlee, formerly an associate professor at UMES, filed a lawsuit against Anderson and the university in July alleging she had been unlawfully fired and discriminated against. Anderson and fellow defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case on Friday, Oct.31.