Biologist David Sabitini/Courtesy of the Whitehead Institute
David Sabatini, who was ousted last year by the Whitehead Institute over allegations of sexual harassment, may have found a new home at the New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine.
Sabatini, a noted cell biology researcher, has been fighting the charges brought against him. He filed a counter lawsuit against Whitehead last fall, alleging he is a victim of false claims. As BioSpace previously reported, Sabatini claimed in his lawsuit that the sexual relationship he had with his accuser was consensual. Sabatini maintained an HHMI-supported lab at the institute.
According to the lawsuit, Sabatini said he ended the relationship with his accuser in 2019. However, the accuser, who was a co-worker, did not want to end things and continued to seek a relationship with him, the lawsuit stated. Sabatini claims that he stressed “on multiple occasions that he did not want a long-term relationship” with the colleague. Once he ended the relationship, he claimed she sought revenge. Even after her allegations led to his dismissal from The Whitehead Institute, Sabatini alleges that the woman in question continued to make false statements regarding the alleged harassment.
Sabatini, who had also been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, resigned from his position at the school earlier this year. He departed his post before he could be terminated for violating the school’s policy on consensual...
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