Jury awards former MIT scientist $6m in defamation case against colleague
A jury awarded molecular biologist David Sabatini $6 million in damages in his defamation case against fellow scientist Kristin Knouse, whose allegations of sexual misconduct had cost him senior positions at MIT and the Whitehead Institute. The trial centred on their relationship and whether it was consensual or involved coercion by Sabatini, who was Knouse’s senior colleague.
In a video deposition played during the trial, Knouse acknowledged that she had gone to Sabatini’s hotel room at about 2am and had sex with him. A text attributed to her described the encounter as “quite aggressive” and added “#hetoo”; she said she was joking and had been more forward. Their relationship began in 2018 and ended in January 2020, after Sabatini said he wanted to date another scientist. Knouse later countersued, alleging he abused his position of power.
In short
- Sabatini won $6 million in his defamation case against Knouse.
- The trial examined allegations about their relationship and workplace power.
- Knouse said her “#hetoo” text was a joke about being more forward.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Sabatini’s strongest case is that Knouse’s public allegations implied coercion or sexual misconduct, and that the jury could reasonably find those claims defamatory in light of evidence that she initiated the hotel-room encounter and later described it as a joke. He can argue that serious accusations should be assessed against the evidence, especially when they can end a person’s career.
The case against
Knouse’s strongest case is that a consensual encounter does not settle whether a senior colleague abused a workplace power imbalance, and that her account of the relationship and its ending may support her allegation of coercion. She can argue that people who report perceived misconduct should not face defamation liability simply because a jury credits a different interpretation of a complex relationship.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Female MIT scientist climbed into famed professor’s bed and ‘aggressively’ demanded sex… before making #MeToo allegation that almost ruined him after he dumped her”.