Beating the Government in a Defamation Case

Sherry Chen

Emotionally, psychologically, physically and financially surviving being defamed is a painful, if not excruciating endeavor. When the defamer is the government, the stress and anxiety could be a lot higher. Yet the government, surprisingly, even if rarely, can be overcome.

Chinese American scientist accused of spying for China wins $1.8 million settlement

“Chinese American hydrologist Sherry Chen, who was wrongfully arrested and fired after being accused of spying for China, won a $1.8 million settlement in two lawsuits filed against the U.S. government,” reported Khier Casino.

Chen was arrested in 2014 and charged with espionage by the FBI, accused of illegally taking sensitive information from a government database about American dams and sharing it with Chinese scientists.

As you can see, this case goes back close to a decade.

In 2015, "the Justice Department dropped its charges against Chen due to lack of evidence. But that didn’t stop her from being terminated from her job for the same reasons that led to the federal case,” Casino reported.

She’s been long suffering.

“Chen won a wrongful termination grievance against the Merit Systems Protection Board, a government agency that oversees employment cases involving federal employees. The Commerce Department, which oversees the National Weather Service, appealed. Then, in 2019, Chen filed a civil suit against the U.S. government for malicious prosecution and false arrest, seeking $5 million in damages.

“In the end, Chen won $550,000 as well as $1.25 million to be paid in installments over the next decade,” Casino wrote.

Let’s assess at least some of the damage: Publicly, legally shamed. The humiliation of being arrested and terminated. Lost of status, work she wanted to do, and financial strength. The stress, anxiety and likely, anger, endured for years. Maybe still. And having to endure the misery of interacting with the government, legal system and media coverage

Chen winning in a court of law beat the odds. Not everyone is so fortunate.

Critics of the judgment contend that Chen isn’t necessarily innocent, saying that the government just couldn’t prove it’s case. That could be. It’s plausible. Yet, it could be factual that the allegations were not aligned with the reality and that, instead, Chen was egregiously manhandled by the government.

In life, there can be attacks on your character, reputation, peace and quality of life.

It can happen — please don’t choose to believe otherwise — even when you assume you have no enemies and are doing little-to-nothing to instigate wrongdoers, criminals or authority.

Now, back to the story in this article:

There will be people and employers with whom Chen’s reputation will still be damaged. Why? Assumptions and false conclusions, based on belief systems and associating Chen with emotional beliefs. Heuristics.

That hurts people, legal “win” and financial judgment or not. Chen is not yet fully restored, I argue. Additionally, she likely still is traumatized to some degree, maybe a large one.

It’s not right morally, but she likely continues to carry the burden of having additional work to do and more investment to make to achieve the reputation restoration she wants — and the benefits that come along with it.

Michael Toebe is the founder at Reputation Quality, serving and helping successful individuals and organizations in further building, protecting, restoring or reconstruction reputation as a professional and personal “asset.”