David Sabatini’s resignation follows a decision from three senior MIT officers that recommended his tenure’s revocation.
David Sabatini/courtesy of Whitehead Institute (MIT)
Prominent Massachusetts Institute of Technology cell biology researcher David Sabatini has resigned from his tenured professorship at the prestigious university in the wake of a sexual harassment case that caused him to be fired from the Whitehead Institute in August 2021.
His resignation follows a recommendation by three senior MIT officers that his tenure be revoked. According to Science, MIT President L. Rafael Reif wrote an email to faculty members on April 1 to inform the community of Sabatini’s departure. Reif reportedly said that the recommendation to revoke tenureship came from Provost Martin Schmidt, Dean of Science Nergis Mavalva and Biology Department Head Alan Grossman.
Biospace reported on Sabatini’s termination from The Howard Hughes Medical Institute in August after an independent investigation found proof supporting allegations of sexual harassment against him. In an internal email, Ruth Lehmann, director at Whitehead, said that Sabatini violated the institute’s policies on sexual harassment. The allegations against him involved a junior colleague.
When Sabatini was fired in August, he continued to work as a professor at MIT while the case was ongoing. In October, Sabatini filed a defamation lawsuit against Whitehead, Lehman and the junior colleague, saying that the junior was only out to “punish an ex-lover.”
In December, the junior filed a countersuit claiming that 85% of the talk was sexual in nature while only 15% was related to science while he was mentoring her. The junior also claimed that another woman, an undergrad, left the program two years earlier to get away from him. The women allegedly received multiple demands from Sabatini to engage in sex from 2018 to 2019 through text messaging.
Sabatini’s high-profile stature is mainly from his winning the 2020 Sjöberg Prize for their team’s discovery of mTORs, or mammalian proteins that can regulate cell growth, which is a valuable addition to the discovery and research of a cure for cancer. Sabatini and research partner Michael Hall from Biozentrum in Switzerland were given around $1 million to fund their discovery and development plans. He maintained a lab with 39 people on board, many of whom were transitioned into other teams and activities when Sabatini’s office was dissolved.
Lawyers representing the junior colleague expressed their happiness after the news of Sabatini’s resignation. They noted that they are grateful that MIT had taken their concerns seriously and taken action.
The lawsuit covers multiple allegations covering sexual harassment, career interference, hostile working conditions, retaliation, intentionally causing emotional distress and damaging a person’s reputation. It seeks a range of compensation, including compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, payment of medical bills and suffering.
