When are data "publishable" and "not-publishable"?

A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging luminary has accused two previous scientific trainees of dubious academic shenanigans if not outright scientific misconduct. Nikos Logothetis discussed his complaints in a news focus published in Nature. Specifically, he:

charged that two of his former research students took data from his laboratory without his permission and published scientifically incorrect interpretations of them against his advice.

and

claims that the journal involved, Human Brain Mapping, acted incorrectly by publishing the paper after he told them the data were inappropriate. He says the journal has denied him the right to a timely reply.