Law for Business 12th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 4

Johnson, a graduate student at Yale, was assigned a committee of faculty advisors co-chaired by Skelly and Schmitz. Johnson developed an idea for his dissertation and recorded his idea in a private journal. Two other students read his journal and explained his idea to Schmitz, and Schmitz asked Johnson to explain it to him. Schmitz told him that in order to complete his dissertation and pass his qualifying exam, he would have to trust the faculty. Reluctantly, Johnson explained his theory. Schmitz and Skelly published Johnson's theory without attribution to Johnson. Johnson sent a letter to the director of doctoral students complaining of academic fraud but did not get a response. Later, Yale stopped delivering his monthly salary supplement and his funding. Johnson then wrote to the dean of the program, who informed him that an inquiry committee would be formed. Five months later, they found there were no grounds for his fraud allegations. Their investigation consisted of a keyword search to determine originality and did not include any intellectual analysis of Johnson's ideas, nor did they talk to him. He appealed to the provost, who declined to reevaluate his claim. Can Johnson successfully sue Yale for breach of contract? Why?