Jury rules in favor of David Sabatini in sexual misconduct lawsuit

A Suffolk County jury on Friday awarded $6 million in damages to ousted star scientist and former MIT professor David Sabatini, whose career imploded after he was accused by a much younger colleague of inappropriate sexual conduct in his Cambridge research lab.

The verdict was a stark rejection of a high-profile #MeToo claim from Kristin Knouse, a fellow scientist who said Sabatini had subjected her to a coercive relationship and fostered a hostile and sexualized workplace environment in his lab at the world-renowned Whitehead Institute.

The jury of seven women and six men directed Knouse — who had brought her own suit against Sabatini — to pay the $6 million verdict, plus interest, finding she had defamed him and interfered with his ability to make a living.