Reader discretion advised: This story contains mentions of sexual assault and abuse according to allegations in the court case document.
In this article, The Nevada Sagebrush continues the investigation into the recent litigation and sexual assault allegations. All information in this article and the previous articles surrounding this case are alleged, only sourced from court documents contained in all of the lawsuits filed by Fan in relation to this situation.
Two lawsuits have been filed by Feifei Fan, a mechanical engineering associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, against the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education on behalf of the university and another professor, Yanyao Jiang, for alleged sexual abuse.
In the lawsuit against NSHE, the defendant moved to dismiss the complaint for “insufficient service of process” — the same day that student protestors interrupted a groundbreaking event for a new business building at the university.
On Oct. 24, a motion was submitted to substitute previous attorney Ryan J. Cann for her now current attorney, Theresa Mains, for the remainder of the case.
The most recent update of the docket finds that Fan and her new attorney Mains motioned for a voluntary dismissal without prejudice on Nov. 8 in the NSHE case.
As for Fan’s original lawsuit filed against Jiang in October 2021, Fan’s complaint against Jiang was “dismissed with prejudice” on Sept. 9. Fan then filed to appeal the case on Sept. 27, however, the suit is private and no new details have been released.
“Fan’s federal causes of action are improper, leaving purely state law claims. For that reason, the Court will dismiss the action against Jiang for failure to state a claim and lack of subject matter jurisdiction,” the document wrote.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has dismissed all claims in Fan’s lawsuit against Jiang and his wife in the private lawsuit, and Fan and her lawyer have been sanctioned, or penalized for violation of court rules, by the court.
According to the court document’s section on the sanctions, the court is currently sanctioning Fan and her counsel for filing the “frivolous action” against Jiang’s wife, Wei Wu.
“The [a]ction that Fan and her counsel brought against Wu is not only frivolous but an abuse of judicial process,” the court document stated. “What is clear from this [a]ction is that Fan and Jiang had a sexual relationship that soured. Fan brought this Action against Jiang for his alleged conduct and decided to add Wu for vindictive reasons.”
The court added in the document that it did not know why Fan’s lawyer, Ryan J. Cann chose to file this action and name Wu as an additional defendant in the case and that “the facts that make up the allegations provide no basis … to find that Wu did anything wrong.”
The court then ordered that Fan and her counsel would pay Wu’s attorney fees. Fan has appealed the federal court’s dismissal of the lawsuit against Jiang.
Jiang’s lawyer issued this statement to The Nevada Sagebrush on behalf of Jiang:
“Justice requires careful consideration of the facts, and an understanding that not every accusation is true. This is why deliberative processes, like Title IX investigations or federal lawsuits, take time. As the legal and Title IX investigations have taken place, terrible lies have been told about me in the press. These characterizations are hurtful to my family. I respect everyone’s right to voice their opinions, but ask that they seek out the facts. The truth will ultimately show that these allegations against me are not based in reality. Fan has lost her federal lawsuit against my wife and me; while she has a right to appeal, I am confident her appeal will not succeed. As the judge said in dismissing Fan’s federal lawsuit against my wife and me, the action was dismissed ‘for failure to state a claim[,]” the conduct Fan alleged in that case “is not sex trafficking[,]” and “what is clear from [that] Action is that Fan and Jiang had a sexual relationship that soured.’ The judge also sanctioned Fan for her discovery violations and sanctioned her for the frivolous case she brought against my wife. Again, the truth will ultimately show that Fan’s allegations against me are not based in reality.”
Fan also said she could not comment about the allegations, according to her website:
“Due to ongoing legal proceedings, I cannot share my discoveries at this time. Once they are resolved, I will share my findings and lessons learned, especially from my interactions with UNR’s investigation teams and my highly frustrating legal journey in and outside the court. My hope is that none of you will face the challenges I’ve endured. I am determined to pass on my painful lessons to empower future advocates against injustices.”
This story will be developed as more information is discovered.
Jaedyn Young can be reached at jaedynyoung@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @jaedyn_young3.
