Jury orders Kristin Knouse to pay David Sabatini nearly $10m for defamation

A Massachusetts jury found former researcher Kristin Knouse liable for defaming cancer scientist David Sabatini over allegations about their relationship. Sabatini says the case damaged his career and reputation; he told the Daily Mail that Knouse’s habit of criticising many people was a warning sign he failed to recognise.

Sabatini said Knouse also told him that other faculty members were sexually harassing her. Their consensual relationship began in 2018 and ended in January 2020; she reported him to the Whitehead Institute later that year, and he left MIT in 2022. The article says the jury ordered Knouse to pay $6 million plus interest, with the debt now close to $10 million and increasing by about $3,000 a day.