Crimeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Massachusetts Jury Orders Kristin Knouse To Pay David Sabatini $6 Million In Defamation Case
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Suffolk County Superior Court jury awarded Sabatini $6 million in defamation damages. Jury ordered Kristin Knouse to pay Sabatini $6 million.
Sabatini wins $6M
A Massachusetts jury found that Kristin Knouse defamed David Sabatini and interfered with his work contracts, ordering Knouse to pay $6 million plus interest. David Sabatini, a former MIT professor, said the ruling was “overwhelming,” adding, “It was done.” The Suffolk County jury sided with Sabatini after a five-year legal battle that began when Kristin Knouse’s allegations derailed his research career.
Sabatini maintained that his relationship with Knouse, which began in 2018, was consensual and ended after he began pursuing another woman, while Knouse said the relationship was coercive. Sabatini’s attorney, Lisa Arrowood, called the verdict “a moment of sweet justice” and said her client’s life “was ruined” following Knouse’s claims.
Competing accounts
Kristin Knouse told investigators that the relationship involved pressure and an abuse of professional power, and she said the lab became a hostile, sexualized workplace environment. Ellen Zucker, who represented Knouse, said the jury’s verdict reflected none of that, calling it “a marker of our times where it is still hard for women to be believed.” Lisa Arrowood said the verdict restored Sabatini’s reputation after years of professional turmoil, and she described the outcome as “a moment of sweet justice.”
Sabatini argued that Knouse’s accusations harmed his reputation and prevented him from securing another academic position, and his legal team presented evidence they said showed Knouse became jealous of another woman. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research said claims against the organization had already been dismissed, and it stressed that the verdict applies only to Sabatini and Knouse.
Appeal and fallout
Kristin Knouse’s legal team said it plans to appeal the decision, and Ellen Zucker said she would appeal the verdict. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revived Knouse’s sexual harassment counterclaim on May 19, 2026, ruling that state law permits people alleging harassment in academic settings to sue the individuals accused of misconduct directly. The Law Commentary account said the decision allowed Knouse’s allegations to proceed to trial, where jurors ruled against her.
The dispute began while Sabatini and Knouse were working at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Sabatini led a research lab and Knouse was a fellow. The College Fix reported that MIT-based probe found Sabatini guilty of failing to disclose a consensual relationship with Kristin Knouse and concluded that the professor violated school policy by creating a “sexualized undercurrent in the lab.”