Dr. David Sabatini, a former scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has won a legal victory following the loss of his position following allegations of sexual misconduct by a female colleague. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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A former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist won a legal victory this week after losing his position following allegations of sexual misconduct by a female colleague.
Dr. David Sabatini, a former MIT biology professor and prominent biomedical researcher, was awarded $6 million in damages Friday after a jury found that his former colleague, Dr. Kristin Knouse, defamed him.
At the time of the allegations, Sabatini had run a research laboratory at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for approximately 24 years. His work focused on cell biology and its links to neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, aging and cancer.
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A building at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, displays the names of scientists engraved on its facade. (Getty Images)
In 2021, Sabatini lost her position at Whitehead following an internal investigation into allegations made by Dr. Kristin Knouse, a younger colleague who worked at the institute.
The couple met in 2012 and began a sexual relationship in 2018, which ended the following year, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. Knouse later alleged the relationship was forced.
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Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 10, 2026: An MIT sign stands on the edge of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus near the Kendall Square buildings. (Getty Images)
According to investigative records, Whitehead also found that Sabatini fostered a sexualized atmosphere in his laboratory. He then resigned from the institute.
After his departure from Whitehead — and in the midst of an ongoing investigation at MIT — Sabatini filed a defamation suit against Knouse, “alleging claims of defamation and tortious interference with contractual, prospective and advantageous relationships,” according to court documents.
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A sign for the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research stands in Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a major biotechnology and research center near MIT. (Getty Images)
Knouse then filed a counterclaim against Sabatini, alleging sexual harassment.
Throughout the legal battle, Sabatini maintained that he never fostered an inappropriate atmosphere in his laboratory and that his relationship with Knouse was consensual.
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During the trial, his attorney, Lisa Arrowood, cited text messages between the two men that she said showed Knouse was a willing participant in their relationship.
In a 2020 exchange, Knouse lamented that she was “spending a lot of energy and emotion on a match I’m destined to lose” and wondered “if it was best for both of us to cut all ties except work-related ones for the foreseeable future.”
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She concluded the post by writing, “But most of the time I feel at peace and want to do whatever I can to help you.”
Sabatini and his legal team argued in court that the relationship was consensual. They also presented evidence that they said showed Knouse became jealous of another woman Sabatini was interested in and sought to have him fired.
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A day after a Suffolk County jury awarded him $6 million in damages, Sabatini told Fox News Digital that hearing the verdict was “damning.”
“It was done,” Sabatini said. “We had won everything, lost nothing. It was like a complete sweep.”
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Five years after filing her suit, Sabatini emerged from the trial with a favorable verdict after the jury rejected Knouse’s counterclaims, including her allegation that he coerced her into having sex.
“The sad reality of our time is that society still struggles to believe women and appreciate the difficulties they face with men who too often control their destinies,” Knouse’s lawyer, Ellen Zuker, said in a statement to the New York Times.
Knouse’s attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Despite the legal victory, Sabatini is now trying to pick up the pieces of his career. The allegations seeped into every aspect of his life, and many of those close to him – including his parents, his nephew and his school-age son – began receiving threats shortly after Knouse’s claims were made public.
“Everyone who came out and tried to defend me was attacked from every direction,” Sabatini told Fox News Digital.
Shortly after leaving MIT and Whitehead, Sabatini discussed a possible professorship at New York University (NYU). But after students and faculty protested his possible hiring in 2022, the university ultimately did not offer him a position.
Sabatini said protesters also appeared outside his parents’ home, dragging his family into controversy.
A year later, in 2023, Sabatini landed a job at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Prague after receiving several offers from foreign countries, including China. He then opened a branch of the institute in Boston and divides his time between Prague and the United States.
“It was a necessity,” Sabatini said. “There were no options (in the United States). So there was no choice.”
Following Friday’s verdict, Knouse’s lawyers announced they planned to appeal, while Sabatini’s legal team was also preparing to challenge the dismissal of his complaints against the Whitehead Institute.
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“I think institutions don’t care about due process,” Sabatini said. “They care about having a certain conclusion. And for whatever reason, at that moment, the conclusion was, ‘Get this guy out of here and make an example of him.'”
Sabatini said he hoped to rebuild his life and career after the verdict and eventually return to work primarily in the United States.
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“But ultimately, for me, it’s just about being able to be close to my son before he goes to college,” Sabatini told Fox News Digital. “It’s definitely number one to 100.”
Fox News Digital has also reached out to the Whitehead Institute and MIT for comment.
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