Nathaniel Abraham Case Thrown Out

Creationist Nathaniel Abraham’s lawsuit against the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution—which PZ Myers discussed in this post, and which _Hyphoid Logic_discussed at length last month—has been thrown out by a federal judge in Massachusetts for procedural problems. The judge did not need to hear oral arguments, or to issue a long opinion; in a single-sentence order he merely ruled against Abraham because he did not file the lawsuit within the proper time period after receiving a notice from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and because the defendant—Woods Hole scientist Mark Hahn—could not be personally sued under the federal law in question. Abraham argued that he did not actually receive the notice, but he failed to allege as much in his complaint, and the defendants pointed out that courts presume that such letters are received about a week after they are sent—while Abraham filed his lawsuit more than a year after it was sent.

The decision is not a ruling on the merits, and might be appealed. The case is Abraham v. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, et al., No. 07-12237 (D. Mass.)