An editor for the Boston Globe’s Boston.com who wrote an unverified story accusing a Harvard professor of firing off a “racist” email is facing scrutiny for peddling T-shirts mocking him for a flap over a $4 Chinese food charge.

Boston.com deputy editor Hilary Sargent designed the T-shirt, which was posted for sale for $20.95 on Internet shopping site Zazzle.com, Boston.com confirmed yesterday.

Aimed at Harvard Business School professor Ben Edelman, the T-shirt carried the words “Didn’t go to HBS. Also didn’t lose my (expletive) over FOUR dollars.”

“Boston.com can confirm that Hilary designed the T-shirt. We certainly don’t condone this type of action and we are dealing with it internally,” Corey Gottlieb, executive director of Boston.com’s digital strategy and operations, said in a statement last night.

Sargent had posted a series of stories chiding Edelman over his demand for a refund from Sichuan Garden’s owner Ran Duan because he was charged $4 more for food that was listed at a lower price on the Brookline restaurant’s online menu.

The story took an odd turn Wednesday when Sargent posted another story alleging that Edelman had sent an email containing a racial slur to Duan, sparking stinging criticism of the professor on the Internet and social media.

Shortly after that story went online, it was pulled from Boston.com and replaced by an editor’s note, which said in part, “We cannot verify that Edelman, in fact, sent the email. We have taken the story down.”

Neither Sargent nor Edelman responded to requests for comment from the Herald.

The T-shirts were marketed under the #TeamRanDuan hashtag and promoted by Sargent on Twitter.

Al Tompkins of the journalism think tank Poynter Institute said the Globe and Boston.com need to give readers a better explanation of what happened.

Tompkins said the story was “blowing up everywhere” and people were “already pretty emotional toward the professor.”

“And when you add an element like racism, on top of that, it just fans the flames even further so you better know what you’re talking about,” Tompkins said.

As for the T-shirts, Tompkins said he tries not to be “too old-fashioned but there are standards that still apply and one of them isn’t to make T-shirts about the story you just reported.”

Boston.com did not say whether Sargent will face any disciplinary action.