David Sabatini, who recently resigned from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology following allegations of sexual harassment, has withdrawn from consideration for a position at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, Science reports.
MIT placed Sabatini on leave in August 2021 after an investigation into those allegations concluded he violated workplace sexual harassment policies, as the Boston Globe reported at the time. It also noted then that Sabatini was no longer associated with MIT's Whitehead Institute or with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Sabatini subsequently sued his accuser, the Whitehead, and the institute's director for defamation, the Globe later reported, adding that Sabatini said he had a consensual relationship with his accuser. In April, MIT officials recommended that Sabatini lose his tenure, which led to his resignation.
Science reported later that month that Sabatini was in talks with officials at NYU's medical school to take up a post there. This, Science now adds, sparked a walkout and protest letters from students, postdocs, and faculty, both at NYU and elsewhere, as well as a robust defense from NYU officials.
According to Science, Sabatini says in a statement that "[f]alse, distorted, and preposterous allegations" have circulated about him and notes that NYU was under tremendous pressure, leading him to "withdraw my name from consideration for a faculty position there."