Not taking any sides here, but here's an article I read a few months ago before knowing anything about this situation. Certainly offers another perspective:
Reading this article, I can’t help but be despondent about academia. At some point, every scientist has some wild/mad streak. What happens when every slight deviation is punished? Does this kill innovation?
> That trainee called the report’s depiction of the lab an “alternate reality,” and the characterization of Sabatini as lascivious and retaliatory “deeply insane.”
> “They have the wrong guy,” a female scientist who knows Sabatini and Knouse told me. A female former trainee told me that the climate in Sabatini’s lab was “one of excellence.” She said that Sabatini could be demanding, but he was never demeaning or unfair. “I try to emulate him in my own lab,” another female former trainee said. A third female trainee said the lab could be informal, but it was hardly a locker room. “It just wasn’t in the air.“
And then young academics themselves throw out baseless claims found somewhere on the internet (?) that don’t correlate to reality at all:
> They hadn’t read the lawyers’ report, but they had read the internet, and they didn’t like what they’d read. NYU was about to hire a “serial sexual harasser,” as one of the demonstrators put it, trading grant dollars for their trainees’ “safety.” So where should a superstar researcher do his research? Where does the guy who’s going to help cure cancer go? “Uhhh, Prison?” Madeleine Sutherland, a postdoc, told me.
We live in a new world where context and letting arguments stand on merit is irrelevant. A small but vocal minority of zealots amplified by social media can destroy a person's career simply because they feel the ideas and/or actions of that person contradicts their values.
> We live in a new world where context and letting arguments stand on merit is irrelevant.
Did legitimate accusations against powerful people "stand on merit" in the past? Look at how long it took folks to get taken seriously about Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
It's entirely possible the pendulum swings too far, but it wasn't in the right spot to begin with either.
I would not necessarily consider those guys as examples of the same problem. They broke actual laws. Their accusers were not taken seriously and it took an enormously long time for the legal system to kick in and dispense justice. I agree the pendulum was not correct to begin with.
I believe this person was in a consensual relationship that broke a work rule. He broke no actual laws and was not accused of doing so AFAIK. He was tried in the court of public opinion without representation or jury of his peers. NYU was prepared to hire him and backed down because a group of whiners showed up at their front door. They kowtowed showing how spineless they are. These are the very people that are supposed to be safe guarding us from this stuff. They were likely more afraid of losing their highly paid administrative positions than protecting academic freedom.
Dave Chappelle is another notable example. Watched his Netflix special an had to wonder if people claiming he is transphobic even watched or understood what he was saying. Or maybe they where upset that he placed the BLAME for his trans friend's suicide on the trans communities itself.
Social media has dropped the barrier to a point where sociopaths can cause chaos without any effort at all.
> I believe this person was in a consensual relationship that broke a work rule. He broke no actual laws and was not accused of doing so AFAIK.
The allegations were of sexual harassment, which is illegal. That it was handled at the employer level rather than a civil suit doesn’t change that fact.
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[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 36.4 ms ] threadhttps://www.commonsense.news/p/he-was-a-world-renowned-cance...
> That trainee called the report’s depiction of the lab an “alternate reality,” and the characterization of Sabatini as lascivious and retaliatory “deeply insane.”
> “They have the wrong guy,” a female scientist who knows Sabatini and Knouse told me. A female former trainee told me that the climate in Sabatini’s lab was “one of excellence.” She said that Sabatini could be demanding, but he was never demeaning or unfair. “I try to emulate him in my own lab,” another female former trainee said. A third female trainee said the lab could be informal, but it was hardly a locker room. “It just wasn’t in the air.“
And then young academics themselves throw out baseless claims found somewhere on the internet (?) that don’t correlate to reality at all:
> They hadn’t read the lawyers’ report, but they had read the internet, and they didn’t like what they’d read. NYU was about to hire a “serial sexual harasser,” as one of the demonstrators put it, trading grant dollars for their trainees’ “safety.” So where should a superstar researcher do his research? Where does the guy who’s going to help cure cancer go? “Uhhh, Prison?” Madeleine Sutherland, a postdoc, told me.
Did legitimate accusations against powerful people "stand on merit" in the past? Look at how long it took folks to get taken seriously about Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby.
It's entirely possible the pendulum swings too far, but it wasn't in the right spot to begin with either.
I believe this person was in a consensual relationship that broke a work rule. He broke no actual laws and was not accused of doing so AFAIK. He was tried in the court of public opinion without representation or jury of his peers. NYU was prepared to hire him and backed down because a group of whiners showed up at their front door. They kowtowed showing how spineless they are. These are the very people that are supposed to be safe guarding us from this stuff. They were likely more afraid of losing their highly paid administrative positions than protecting academic freedom.
Another case (https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/pers...) and a defense (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/opinion/history-sweet-aha...)
Dave Chappelle is another notable example. Watched his Netflix special an had to wonder if people claiming he is transphobic even watched or understood what he was saying. Or maybe they where upset that he placed the BLAME for his trans friend's suicide on the trans communities itself.
Social media has dropped the barrier to a point where sociopaths can cause chaos without any effort at all.
The allegations were of sexual harassment, which is illegal. That it was handled at the employer level rather than a civil suit doesn’t change that fact.