Jury awards $6 million to MIT scientist in misconduct case

A Massachusetts jury awarded molecular cell biologist David Sabatini $6 million, rejecting the sexual-misconduct claims that led to his dismissal from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Whitehead Institute. The verdict concludes a years-long legal dispute in which Sabatini maintained that his accuser, Kristin Knouse, had lied. The jury consisted of seven women and six men.

Before 2021, Sabatini held a professorship at MIT, ran a laboratory at the Whitehead Institute, and served as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for research that investigators said could yield new cancer and aging therapies. Evidence presented at trial indicated that Knouse, who led her own lab, launched a campaign she termed "covert operation dethrone" after Sabatini ended their relationship, which lasted approximately one and a half years. Trial records show Knouse messaged friends that Sabatini was going to be "Weinstein’ed out of science" and that she was "out for blood."

In the fall of 2020, Knouse brought her claims to Ruth Lehmann, then the director of the Whitehead Institute. Sabatini’s attorney argued that Lehmann acted as an eager audience for the allegations. Knouse reported to a friend that Lehmann acted "as if she wants a formal reason to fire" Sabatini after one meeting, and indicated she planned to fire him after another. Lehmann reportedly stated, "If I don’t do this, how can anyone ever believe I’m committed to changing this place?" Lehmann denied making these comments in a later deposition.

The Whitehead Institute hired a law firm to investigate the allegations. The firm’s final report reached no conclusion on whether the relationship between Sabatini and Knouse had been consensual. Instead, the report faulted Sabatini for failing to report the relationship to human resources and for a "sexualized undercurrent" in his lab, which it deemed a violation of anti-harassment policy. The report also criticized Sabatini’s focus on "science above all else" and his tendency to praise those demonstrating scientific success.

Following the investigation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute dismissed Sabatini. On the same day, after the Whitehead Institute informed him of its intent to dismiss him, Sabatini resigned from his position there. Subsequently, Nergis Mavalvala, MIT’s dean of science, served on a three-member committee that considered Sabatini’s tenure at MIT. Mavalvala testified that the committee did not speak with any former members of Sabatini’s lab regarding the accusations, despite 34 former members writing in his support. In early 2022, the committee recommended that MIT revoke Sabatini’s tenure, prompting him to resign under pressure.

Trial evidence included emails between Mavalvala and Lehmann from the day the Whitehead Institute delivered the law firm’s report to Sabatini. In one email, Mavalvala wrote to Lehmann: "there is complete alignment between our viewpoints on this whole sordid affair." She further expressed strong support for Lehmann's leadership style, describing her as a leader in cultural transformation who faces inevitable difficulty in that role. Mavalvala stated on the stand that her alignment with Lehmann concerned processes only, not the outcome of Sabatini’s case.

Sabatini now runs a laboratory in Prague and a Czech-affiliated laboratory in Boston. Knouse directs a lab at MIT and recently received a large grant from the National Institutes of Health. Both Lehmann and Mavalvala continue in their respective posts. MIT and the Whitehead Institute have not signaled any willingness to reconsider Sabatini’s employment or sanction individuals involved in his removal.