Pennsylvania Sen. Douglas Mastriano's lawsuit stemming from a dispute over his Ph.D. dissertation has been largely thrown out. The court dismissed his RICO and antitrust claims, holding that the allegations did not amount to a racketeering enterprise or an unlawful restraint of trade. The ruling underscores how difficult it is to turn an academic grievance into a federal conspiracy case.
However, the court allowed one narrow claim to survive: a false light claim against certain defendants. That claim, which alleges the defendants portrayed Mastriano in a misleading way, will proceed. The distinction matters because false light is a state tort about personal reputation, not a broad federal statutory scheme.
The outcome leaves the senator with a much smaller case than the one he filed. While the surviving claim keeps part of the lawsuit alive, the dismissal of the RICO and antitrust counts removes the most expansive legal theories from the litigation.