Research as Tortious Misconduct?

The Los Angeles Times is running a lengthy story by Maura Dolan on what happened to Elizabeth Loftus after she investigated the underlying facts in another researcher's published case study on repressed memory.

The case study involved a woman, known to us only as "Jane Doe," with an alleged "recovered memory" of being sexually abused by her mother as a child. When Loftus published her critique challenging the findings in the earlier researcher's work, Jane Doe (whom Loftus did not identify by name) responded by filing suit, alleging that Loftus had defamed her and invaded her privacy. An appeal in the case is reportedly pending.

The University of Washington, where Loftus was then a faculty member, also launched a two-year ethical investigation, in which she was eventually cleared of misconduct.