Babak Babakinejad

Babak wasn't cancelled at all, but I am sympathetic to him. He is a whistleblower at MIT who has sued MIT.

Articles

• "M.I.T. Media Lab, Already Rattled by... ," The New York Times (2019).

• "Four stories that illustrate why whistleblowers need more protection," Times Higher Education, May 24, 2023, Mark Geoghegan.

"Babak Babakinejad was the research lead on the now disbanded OpenAg (Open Agriculture) project at MIT’s Media Lab (formerly sponsored by Jeffrey Epstein). The project was an open-source food computer meant to revolutionise the hydroponic growth of food, and MIT claimed (falsely) that it was deployed in a refugee camp. Babak queried the legitimacy of the claims and alleged that waste containing many times the legal limit of nitrogen was being dumped into groundwater, potentially contaminating private wells. For Babak, the worst low was when, while on medical leave after suffering panic attacks, his attorney reported that the MIT lawyer told him, “Good luck to his career if he decides to sue MIT”."

• "Judge in whistleblower lawsuit against MIT hears pre-trial arguments," Boston Business Journal, Don Seiffert (Feb. 7, 2023).

"This case centres on allegations that Plaintiff, a former Research Scientist and Research Lead at MIT's Open Agriculture Initiative (OpenAg), wrongfully terminated in violation of public policy, as well as other serious and illegal matters. Plaintiff raised concerns about research misconduct, fraudulent fundraising, and other illegal activities at MIT, including endangering public health and safety through illegal chemical discharges into the sources of drinking waters of Massachusetts residents.

2. A critical element of Plaintiff's case is the connection between his employment, termination, and fraudulent fundraising activities by MIT. Plaintiff asserts that their termination was not merely a reaction to whistleblowing, but also a consequence of the institutional complicity and potential impact of these disclosures on MIT’s officers and senior leadership who had been leveraging the OpenAg for years as a key tool in their fundraising and promotional activities, underlying Defendant’s motives. Such consequences were critical in precipitating Plaintiff’s termination, and egregiousness of MIT’s conduct and continued complicity, to improperly obscure essential details important for Plaintiff in this lawsuit" (Babak's motion for default judgement and motion for discovery (2-22-2024))

Court Documents

Anyone can get free documents from [1] the Middlesex County Superior Court.

• The docket as of February 29, 2024

• Amended Complaint
  • Answer of MIT (2-24-2022)

• Babal's response to MIT's Status Report on Discovery" (November 29, 2023). Babak claims MIT is witholding documents improperly.

• Babak's motion for default judgement and motion for discovery (2-22-2024) "Plaintiff wishes to emphasize that MIT fully possesses the capability to produce the required

documents. This fact is particularly evident in the case of the research misconduct report, which, as the Court is aware, was concluded in 2021. This report's existence and MIT’s failure to produce it, is the clearest possible indication that MIT's omissions are deliberately and willfully disobedient."

• • MIT's opposition to Babak's motion for default judgement and motion for discovery (2-22-2024)
  • Babak's Reply to MIT's opposition (2-22-2024)