Jury awards David Sabatini $6 million in defamation verdict
David Sabatini, a former MIT scientist, just won $6 million after a jury decided that Kristin Knouse's claim that he was a "sexual predator" was defamatory and seriously damaged his career, including getting him ousted from the Whitehead Institute.
Whitehead probe found Sabatini violated policy
The case started when Knouse accused Sabatini of using his position to start a romantic relationship back in 2018, saying it created a hostile work environment.
A 2021 internal investigation by the Whitehead Institute later found that Sabatini had violated the institute's policy governing workplace relationships, though he said everything was consensual.
Knouse's team isn't done yet. They plan to appeal and said multiple women testified about their experiences in Sabatini's lab.
Meanwhile, Knouse is still an assistant professor of biology at MIT and a faculty member of its Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.