Thursday, April 4, 2002

Physics Professor Wins $3-Million Judgment in Libel Suit Against Ex-Student By THOMAS BARTLETT A state-court jury awarded $3-million Tuesday to a University of North Dakota physics professor who sued a former student for libel after she accused him in an online article of being a pedophile. The professor, John L. Wagner, 41, filed his lawsuit after an article titled "Kinky, Torrid Romance by Randy Physics Professor" was published on the Web site Undnews.com. The article was written by Glenda Miskin, 46, who also operates the site. Ms. Miskin was a religious-studies student at North Dakota until she was suspended by a university disciplinary panel in May 1999 for stalking Mr. Wagner. The jury found Ms. Miskin guilty of slander, libel, and interfering with the professor's business relationships. The court also recommended that Ms. Miskin retract the article and apologize to the professor, which she says she will not do. "He should apologize to me for getting me dumped out of school," said Ms. Miskin. The article is now posted on another Web site that links to Ms. Miskin's site. Ms. Miskin's site features criticism of the University of North Dakota, links to photographs of nude women, and advertisements about how to obtain prescription drugs illegally. Mr. Wagner said he filed the lawsuit after he realized that "she wasn't going to go away." In court testimony, he likened dealing with Ms. Miskin to having cancer, according to the Grand Forks Herald, the local newspaper. "The significance of this has nothing to do with money," Mr. Wagner said. "The court restored $3-million worth of integrity that she had taken from me." He added that he doubts he will ever receive any money from Ms. Miskin. In 1998, Ms. Miskin was a student in Mr. Wagner's freshman-level physics course. She claimed that while she was in his class the two engaged in "sexual banter" over the telephone and in e-mail messages, although she was unable to produce any of his messages. She also accused Mr. Wagner of having confessed to her that he was a pedophile. The professor has denied all of Ms. Miskin's charges. He said he repeatedly rebuffed her romantic advances and filed a complaint with the university's police department after she sent him nearly 70 e-mail messages, some of which were of a sexual nature. Mr. Wagner said he will pursue a lawsuit against the company that sponsors Ms. Miskin's site and against Vivian Nelson, who runs a site called Und-fraud.com, that linked to Ms. Miskin's article. Ms. Miskin, who represented herself in the case, said she plans to appeal the verdict. Background article from The Chronicle: North Dakota Professor Sues Former Student and a Web Site Over Allegations in an Article (1/19/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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