Almost a decade after being wrongly prosecuted for spying for China, Sherry Chen received a 1.8 million dollar settlement from the U.S. Department of Commerce, reports the Technology Review.
“The government’s investigation and prosecution of me was discriminatory and unjustified,” Chen said in a statement. “The Commerce Department is finally being held responsible for its wrongdoing … No one else should have to endure this injustice.”
Authorities arrested Chen in front of her co-workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Ohio in 2014. They dropped the charges a year later, reported China Daily.
A judge ruled in 2018 that her termination was unlawful, describing it as a “gross injustice.”
She’ll receive $550,000 and an annuity of $1.25 million over ten years.
“Ms. Chen’s historic settlement is a victory for her and for Chinese American communities,” said Ashley Gorski, senior staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “It makes clear that profiling and discrimination are unacceptable, and that the government will be held to account.”