Trans health scholars clash in defamation lawsuit over alleged stalking claims

Dustin Duncan, then an associate professor at Columbia University, filed a defamation suit against Elle Lett, a Black transgender woman who teaches at the University of Washington, after Lett posted on X supporting a GoFundMe campaign launched by Sawyer Allen, a transgender man who had falsely accused Duncan of stalking. The judge, Kelley Hodge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, concluded that Duncan does not qualify as a general or limited-purpose public figure, limiting his claim to negligence.

The court held that Lett's statements linking Duncan to the alleged harassment were not covered by a public-interest or common-interest privilege because they relied on second-hand information. However, two of Lett's other X posts were judged to be protected opinions. The case proceeds to trial on the negligence issue, with Lin and Roth representing the plaintiff.