Psychiatrist Bandy Lee does not have a right to make Yale University rehire her for a volunteer teaching and research position, ruled a federal judge.
Lee lost her position at Yale University after diagnosing people she had never met or examined as mentally ill. Such people included President Trump, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowiz, and supporters of Donald Trump. She claimed supporters of Trump suffer from “‘shared psychosis.’”
She filed her lawsuit against Yale back in 2021. She likened Trump to Hitler, saying he was worse than the Nazi dictator. She also authored a book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” which featured the opinions of 37 psychiatrists on the former president’s mental health. On multiple occasions, she demanded that Trump be placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold.
Because Lee held a volunteer position at Yale, the judge dismissed her breach-of-contract claims, which generally protect only employees, not volunteers. However, Lee argued that the loss of even a volunteer position cost her valuable remuneration that she otherwise would have obtained using her prestigious association with Yale. “In exchange for her student-related and teaching activities, Dr. Lee received benefits, privileges, and opportunities,” her original court complaint alleged. She also got “related compensation and other indirect but significant remuneration, that she would not have otherwise received but for her academic affiliation with Yale.”
U.S. District Judge Sarah Merriam wrote in her opinion that Lee “failed to adequately allege the existence of an implied contract because she has not alleged facts which, if proven, would demonstrate that Yale undertook a contractual commitment to reappoint plaintiff.”
The judge granted Yale’s motions to dismiss Lee’s three other claims. Lee had also alleged that Yale did not act in “good faith,” interfered with her free speech rights guaranteed by the federal and state constitutions, and was guilty of “negligent misrepresentation.”
