Former MIT Scientist Wins $6 Million Defamation Verdict in Boston

BOSTON, Massachusetts. A Suffolk County jury has awarded former MIT biologist David Sabatini $6 million in damages, finding that his former colleague Kristin Knouse defamed him and interfered with his work contracts.

The verdict came on Friday, Oct 16, 2026, in Suffolk County Superior Court, after a case that began five years earlier and cost Sabatini his post at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge.

Sabatini, 58, had run a lab at Whitehead for about 24 years. His work studied how cells regulate growth, with links to cancer, diabetes and aging.

How the case began

Sabatini and Knouse met in 2012. They began a sexual relationship in 2018, while both worked at Whitehead, and it ended the following year.

Knouse later said the relationship was coerced. She alleged that Sabatini used his influence to pressure her, and that he fostered a sexualized and hostile atmosphere in his lab. Sabatini said the relationship was consensual, and that the accusations came after he left Knouse for another woman.

In 2021, an internal investigation at Whitehead found that Sabatini had violated the institute policy on workplace relationships. People reported that the investigation also described a sexualized, hostile environment in the lab. Sabatini resigned and lost his position, and an investigation at MIT followed.

Sabatini filed suit in 2021, claiming defamation and tortious interference with contractual and other relations. Knouse filed a counterclaim alleging sexual harassment.

What the jury decided

The jury sided with Sabatini on his claims and rejected Knouse's counterclaims, according to the Wall Street Journal and Fox News. The award was $6 million, plus interest, People reported.

His lawyer, Lisa Arrowood, called the result a moment of sweet justice. She said Sabatini was branded a sexual harasser more than five years ago, and that the jurors found he did not sexually harass Knouse and that she defamed him by calling him a sexual predator.

Speaking to Fox News Digital a day after the verdict, Sabatini said hearing it was overwhelming. He said his side had won everything and lost nothing, and called it a complete sweep.

Knouse's lawyer, Ellen Zucker, said the verdict was deeply disappointing and that they plan to appeal. She said Knouse told the truth in court, and that other women who worked at Whitehead also testified about concerning experiences in the lab. She said the jury ignored that testimony.

What happens next

Whitehead said claims against the institute itself were dismissed earlier, so the judgment applies only to Sabatini and Knouse. MIT did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal and People reported.

Knouse is now an assistant professor of biology at MIT and a faculty member at its Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, People reported.

Sabatini's career after Whitehead was difficult. A possible post at New York University drew protests in 2022 and no offer followed, Fox News reported. In 2023 he took a post in Prague, later opening a Boston branch. Billionaire Bill Ackman, who partnered with an anonymous donor in 2023 to give him $25 million to build a new lab, praised the verdict on X on Friday.

For now, the verdict stands, with an appeal promised.