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Professors subpoena Boise State, Boise Cascade for documents in academic journal retraction lawsuit
Archive
Two Boise State University management professors and an environmental researcher subpoenaed documents last month as evidence in a lawsuit against the University of Denver. The plaintiffs, who allege UD retracted an article after caving to corporate pressure, asked for records from Boise State and the Boise Cascade Corporation.
The attorney for plaintiffs Donald Smith and Boise State management professors William Wines and Mark Buchanan “commanded” Boise State and Boise Cascade Corporation to produce and permit the inspection and copying of all documents pertaining to or in reference to Wines, Buchanan and Smith, or to the article. The subpoena directed Boise Cascade to turn over any such correspondence with Boise State or Gonzaga University, where Wines used to teach.
The subpoenas, issued Oct. 9, also requested Boise State and Boise Cascade Corporation produce all documents pertaining to an article written by Wines, Buchanan and Smith for a University of Denver journal article that was later retracted.
Wines, Buchanan and Smith published a scholarly article in the university’s Denver Journal of International Law and Policy critical of multi-national corporations and the lack of international regulations overseeing labor, environmental and political processes.
The article, The Critical Need for Law Reform to Regulate the Abusive Practices of Transnational Corporations: The Illustrative Case Of Boise Cascade Corporation in Mexico’s Costa Grande and Elsewhere, was published in the spring of 1998 and according to the complaint filed by the plaintiffs in U.S. District Court was retracted in October of 1988 without the authors’ knowledge.
The retraction prompted the plaintiffs to sue the University of Denver for at least $75,000 apiece for each of their three claims, or $675,000, the minimum allowed, for defamation and breach of contract. A jury would determine the actual award if the plaintiffs won the case.
The subpoenas issued to Boise State and Boise Cascade requested all written, recorded or graphic documents relating to the plaintiffs and their article, including correspondence, memoranda, reports, statements and office communications be submitted to the offices of Huntley, Park, Thomas and Burkett by Oct 24.
Boise State University Council Amanda Horton said BSU complied with the request. She declined further comment on the pending case.