She served from 2004 to 2012. University president Andrew Hamilton strongly recommended against bringing Sabatini on board, clearly an important voice in the controversy. Although the remaining claims, counterclaims, and motions to dismiss that the judge addressed in the 29-page opinion were many and complex, the judge at points made clear that the issues they raised need to be considered by a jury if the cases are not settled first. MIT assistant professor alleges Sabatini 'coerced' her into sex, led Ackmans move sends the message that some high-profile and ethical people are willing to support David Sabatini re-engaging his brilliant career as a scientist and mentor of other scientists, despite the risk that by doing so they themselves will be falsely attacked, says Jeffrey Flier, an endocrinologist at Harvard Medical School and former dean there. Imagine if someone accused you and your career was over and there was no due process or chance to defend yourself. But it first erupted in August 2021 . Then, a number of weeks after the scandal exploded, in the fall of 2021, Sabatini had a welcome phone conversation with a friend that led him to think, perhaps, his future as a scientist wasnt totally destroyed. Imagine if it were you, Ackman urged the crowd. Meredith Wadman's beat includes biology research, policy, and sexual harassment . In the last days of 2020, Pernas traveled to Cambridge. He doesnt care because he doesnt have to worry about the graduate students whose career may be ended by a powerful person.. Whitehead Institute seeks pause on prominent biologist's - Science He has fielded some job interest from scientific organizations interested in buying low on a distressed asset. Kristin Knouse, far left, and David Sabatini, far right, at a whiskey tasting in May 2018. @greg_wyant @abeweintraub @kristinknouse @LouridoLab @DMSabatini pic . The judge declined to dismiss Knouses claim of workplace harassment against Sabatini, leaving her countersuit with five standing claims against him including sexual harassment and retaliation. Knouse produced texts showing he requested sex three times beginning before the retreat when he inquired of her, Maybe a discrete consult in NH? She also shared a text showing she told him she was reluctant to go along, citing (a)ggressive policies, pre-existing target on my back, residence at the bottom of the food chain, and rooming with other fellows leaves so little room.. He had split with his wife, and was in. There were good reasons why it seemed unthinkable for Knouse to leave Whitehead, and to name Sabatini as the root of her growing pain. Sabatini later would tell the Globe that investigators had asked him about incidents in the past that he simply couldnt immediately recall. Sabatinis personal life was also taking off as well and he married for the second time. The senior MIT professor, who knew the risks faced by women who take on powerful scientists, also later gave Knouse the name of a legal expert who could help in any protracted legal fight: former federal judge Nancy Gertner. (Knouse) told investigators that part of her wanted to be in a real, not simply sexual relationship with Sabatini, but that she knew that the ongoing sexual relationship with Sabatini had been the source of her deep mental health struggles, lack of productivity, and unhappiness.. Ackman, meanwhile, is among a vocal contingent of Sabatini supporters who have argued that his punishment has been disproportionate. Another of the complainants was Knouse, the Globe has confirmed, and the third was a female trainee who did not work in Sabatinis lab. (I mean act in a way that suggests to him you find him in some way attractive or whatever), Actually, there is another way if you are extremely smart and impress him with that, but then he will still make fun of you in other ways, And Im clearly not smart enough for that . By the next month, November, Lehmann appeared to know much more. She has crafted Whiteheads values statement and said Whitehead also adopted Jones Diversitys recommendations, including for DEI training. But amid these moments of happiness, ominous clouds were building around Sabatinis lab. Lehmann had only met Knouse once before, briefly, at a work retreat. The final paragraphs of the Globe Spotlight Team story on David Sabatini . Lehmann, though, told the Globe the purpose of the meeting was to hear Davids side of the story. She added, He could have asked for the opportunity to provide further information.. And he had, taking up with an American scientist based in Germany who had briefly worked in his lab. In this case, neither Sabatini nor Whitehead opted for moderation. The first demurred because of the unsettled lawsuits, in which Sabatini sued Whitehead and Knouse for defamation and infliction of emotional distress and she countersued for sexual harassment, retaliation, assault and battery, and emotional distress. She said she felt she could not say no to him because of his stature in the field, and potential influence on her career, and eventually yielded to having sex. (Erin Clark/Globe Staff), David Sabatini's belongings from his Whitehead lab were dropped off at his home in Cambridge shortly after he resigned in August 2021. And he can shit talk you to his friends, and if all theyre hearing is his side. In conclusion, the investigators placed Sabatini at the center of the blame, writing: These findings, in the aggregate, portray a high-achieving but troubled laboratory led by a brilliant but personally flawed and immature scientist whose management of a diverse, talented and vulnerable workforce is inconsistent, arbitrary and, at times, lacking in professionalism and social awareness.. 2181CV02828 Sabatini, Ph.D., David M. vs. Knouse, Ph.D., Kristin A. et Dr. Knouse filed a counterclaim against Sabatini for sexual harassment and retaliation months later. He had been invited to a formal dinner thrown by the Pershing Square foundation, a charity that provides grants to young researchers. MIT scientist collecting unemployment after being fired over consensual Updated. He was depicted in the report as not credible during his three interviews, even when presented with texts or other information to contradict his accounts. Knouse, as she planned next steps, had sought advice from MITs Ombuds office, a source of confidential counsel for MIT faculty, students, and staff, at least one Title IX lawyer, and another senior MIT professor about how she might proceed against Sabatini, according to texts and interviews. In the first of those sessions, she revealed her sexual interactions with Sabatini; it was the first time investigators said they learned of the liaisons. Ive done lots of good and this will be fine.. But yesterday, Sabatinis publicist Judy Rakowsky wrote in an email that his lawyers are always amenable to settlement discussions.. She was a new Whitehead scientist operating in an educational program he supervised and for whom he would be expected to write recommendation letters. Knouse has said she was coerced into the relationship, but Sabatini has argued otherwise and said the Whitehead investigation was flawed and unfair. David Sabatini, biologist fired for sexual misconduct, lands millions from private donors to start new lab. As she battled cancer, Amon tried to protect Knouse, one of her top graduate students, recommending that she not file a complaint in the Whitehead system while she still worked there. Nothing on the new lab, Ackman says, from its organizational structure to its location and size, has been settled. For this reason, she sought to leave Whitehead. Knouses texts that were shared with friends and investigators and reviewed by the Globe appear to document a gradual and wrenching evolution of her emotional state. Lehmann, an award-winning germ cell biologist, had built a career in a male-dominated field and championed the success of young scientists like Knouse. He said he banked on his own sense of what was true and on his trust in his colleagues to put the complaints in proper perspective. The investigative report resounded like a thunderclap. And so when Lehmann asked why she was leaving, the younger scientist said only that she had experienced harassment that had deeply affected her mental health. What remains is Dr. Sabatinis claim that alleges that by crediting Dr. Knouses complaints about him, but not his complaints about her conduct, he was subjected to differential treatment because he is a man, Lehmann wrote in her memo to Whitehead Institute employees. Sabatinis paychecks stopped. People | Knouse Lab 520-784-1810. The campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is affiliated with Whitehead Institute. Subscribe to News from Science for full access to breaking news and analysis on research and science policy. Case docket: Sabatini, Ph.D., David M. vs. Knouse, Ph.D., Kristin A. et al, 2181CV02828 in Massachusetts State, Superior Court, Middlesex County, last filing 11/10 . He told the Globe that he was stunned by the harsh judgments of the report, believing that after 24 years running one of the top labs at Whitehead, he would be given a chance to defend himself against the reports conclusions. Among them was a white male graduate student who said that Sabatini tolerated a particular visiting scientist who routinely made sexist and racist remarks. She told human resource officials that Sabatini showed more personal attention to attractive lab members and that female trainees deliberately flirt a little with Sabatini because they believe it will boost their careers. There are so many excellent young scientists who could replace and outperform Sabatini. He has told the Globe that he had considered Knouse a good friend. Kristin Knouse @kristinknouse. He saw support from some prominent academics who questioned his treatment by Whitehead. Sabatini and Knouse exchange occasional comms (a burst in late 2018 when Sabatini has a cancer scare, a burst in January 2020 where they have an argument about their relationship, a burst in April 2020 where things seem calmer and they commiserate about COVID isolation). Sabatini maintains the affair was consensual and that he supported women in his lab, but Knouse said he pressured her for sex, and other women in his lab said he . After hearing Sabatini out, Bar-Sagi thought the public version of the Sabatini story was, at the very least, incomplete. The investigators made no findings on whether the relationship was consensual, saying it was not part of their mandate. He had fallen in love with Lena Pernas, the researcher based in Germany who had briefly worked in his lab. She also declined to dismiss several of Sabatini's claims against Kristin Knouse, a biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who accused Sabatini of sexual harassment and whom he also sued in October 2021; his defamation claim against her was preserved in the ruling. He said he believed that Knouse, a woman in her early 30s who now ran her own lab, would have been comfortable saying no if she didnt want to have sex with him and that he would have respected that. Still, in the main, it was an unrelentingly negative depiction of Sabatini as a man who acted as if the rules didnt apply to him. Research Summary. (Knouse is now a tenure-track scientist at MIT.). My father will die before this is cleared up. A lawyer for Kristin Knouse, the then-Whitehead biologist whose relationship with Sabatini sparked his downfall, declined to comment. Both Sabatini and Knouse requested jury trials when they sued each other. This story was written by Irons. For instance, according to investigators, Sabatini allegedly denied making a comment about preferring European women to American women because they talked more freely about sex, but was later presented with e-mails or texts suggesting he had. Meanwhile, even though ordered by Lehmann not to interfere with the investigation, Sabatini did more than just speak to some lab members. She wrote to Sabatini outlining the concerns raised by the survey and other sources. She said outside investigators would seek to interview members of his lab or others who may have helpful information. That was a breach of an MIT policy that had recently been announced with fanfare. Soon after, a potential job offer for Sabatini at New York University fell apart after student and faculty protests. Assistant Prof @MITBiology @kochinstitute. He was shocked by what he heard, Sabatini told the Globe. Lehmann countered in an email to Whitehead faculty and staff on 5 April, calling Kazanjians decision favorable for the Institute and me personally. But Lehmann insisted significant change is well underway. Nancy Hopkins, a biologist emeritus at MIT who exposed gender discrimination against female faculty there in the 1990s, says she suspects that [Sabatini] deeply believes he did nothing wrong. A sexual harassment case that has roiled multiple research institutions took another turn last week when a Massachusetts superior court judge threw out most claims made by biologist David Sabatini against the Whitehead Institute and its president and director Ruth Lehmann in a 2021 defamation lawsuit.
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