$6 Million Is Not the Last Word: How the Sabatini Verdict Can Be Challenged
A jury awarded David Sabatini $6 million and his former colleague's lawyer says she will appeal. Here is how a Massachusetts verdict is challenged, step by step.
November 2, 2026 · 3 min read
By Jocelyn C. Stewart
A Suffolk County jury awarded former MIT scientist David Sabatini $6 million on Oct. 16 in his defamation suit against a former member of his lab. Her lawyer says she will appeal. In Massachusetts, a jury verdict is a major step, but it is not the last one.
We covered how the case got to a jury in Suing Your Accuser: What the Sabatini Verdict Shows. This post looks at what can happen to the verdict now.
What the jury decided. The jury found that the former colleague defamed Sabatini and interfered with his ability to work, and it rejected her counterclaims of harassment and retaliation, according to The New York Times, via Boston.com, and Boston 25 News. The Boston Globe reports the same outcome.
Both sides. Sabatini has said the relationship was consensual; she said it was coerced, the Times reports. Her lawyer, Ellen Zucker, said she will appeal, according to the Globe and the Times. Zucker told the Times her client "came into court and told the truth."
The institute is out. Sabatini's claims against the Whitehead Institute were dismissed before trial, the Globe and Boston 25 News report.
The money. The Globe reports it is unclear how the $6 million, plus interest, will be paid. None of the reports reviewed says whether a final judgment has been entered.
Why it matters. After a verdict, the losing side has short windows to ask the trial judge to undo or reduce it, then a longer path to an appeals court. In Massachusetts, taking an appeal can pause collection of the award while the appeal is pending.
Her law firm's website has a guide on how to survive sexual assault allegations, written for service members facing them.