On October 16, 2026, a Suffolk County Superior Court jury awarded $6 million in damages to scientist David Sabatini, finding that fellow researcher Kristin Knouse defamed him following allegations of sexual misconduct at the Whitehead Institute. While Knouse's legal team plans to appeal the decision, Sabatini has accepted a laboratory position in the Czech Republic backed by a $25 million donor pledge following protests at NYU.
Jury verdict and damages award
- ▪The Suffolk County Superior Court jury that decided the civil lawsuit between David Sabatini and Kristin Knouse consisted of seven women and six men
- ▪On October 16, 2026, a Suffolk County Superior Court jury awarded $6 million in damages plus interest to scientist David Sabatini after finding Kristin Knouse defamed him and interfered with his ability to make a living
Reactions and appeal after the verdict
- ▪Attorney Ellen Zucker stated following the October 16, 2026 verdict that her client, Kristin Knouse, intends to appeal the Suffolk Superior Court jury's decision
- ▪David Sabatini's attorney, Lisa Arrowood, stated that a longtime member of Kristin Knouse's laboratory physically body-checked a member of David Sabatini's legal team after the jury's $6 million verdict was read, an account that Kristin Knouse's attorney, Ellen Zucker, denied
- ▪Following the reading of the jury's $6 million verdict in Suffolk Superior Court on October 16, 2026, Kristin Knouse and members of her legal team remained in the courtroom weeping and embracing
- ▪Attorney Ellen Zucker characterized the $6 million jury verdict against Kristin Knouse as symptomatic of a broader culture that fails to believe women and fails to hold men accountable for workplace violations
Whitehead relationship and workplace investigation
- ▪A 2021 internal investigation at the Whitehead Institute concluded that David Sabatini's relationship with Kristin Knouse violated the institute's workplace relationship policy, leading to David Sabatini's removal from his lab
- ▪David Sabatini stated that he and Kristin Knouse engaged in a consensual sexual relationship beginning in 2018 while Kristin Knouse was a fellow at the Whitehead Institute, which ended when David Sabatini began pursuing another woman
Sabatini's scientific career and job prospects
- ▪Approximately 200 graduate students, faculty, and alumni from New York University's Grossman School of Medicine staged a walkout in early 2022 after learning that David Sabatini was being considered for employment there
- ▪Prior to his removal from the Whitehead Institute following a 2021 internal investigation, David Sabatini was a prominent biologist recognized for discovering the cell-growth regulating protein mTOR, which provided key insights into aging and cancer research
- ▪In 2023, investor Bill Ackman and an anonymous donor pledged $25 million over five years to support scientist David Sabatini, who subsequently accepted a research position at a laboratory in the Czech Republic
Broader legal context and comparisons
- ▪The civil lawsuit between David Sabatini and Kristin Knouse represents a rare high-profile #MeToo legal dispute in which an accused individual received a substantial monetary damages judgment
- ▪In a comparable high-profile defamation trial cited during coverage of the David Sabatini litigation, a jury awarded actor Johnny Depp $10 million in damages while also awarding actress Amber Heard $2 million on a counter-defamation claim
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