US university reaches record $852m settlement in campus gynaecologist sex abuse case

The University of Southern California (USC) has reached a record $852m (about R12.8bn) settlement with more than 700 women who accused an ex-gynaecologist on campus of sexually abusing them as patients and the prestigious school of trying to cover it up, attorneys said on Thursday.

The law firm representing many of the women in the case said the payout agreed to by USC and the plaintiffs marked the largest sexual abuse settlement with a university and the biggest personal injury payout by any college or university in US history.

The deal, resolving lawsuits brought by 710 women in California state court, stems from allegations against George Tyndall, who practised at USC for nearly 30 years before the private, Los Angeles-based university suspended him in 2016, then allowed him to quietly retire without immediately reporting him to the state medical board.

A separate $215m (about R3.2bn) settlement of a federal class-action case in 2018 and a more recent $50m (about R752m) cluster of individual state court settlements brings the total payout USC has agreed to in the Tyndall scandal to $1.1 billion (about R16.5bn.

No further civil claims are outstanding.

Tyndall, who has denied wrongdoing, lost his medical licence and has been charged with sexually assaulting 21 patients under the guise of gynaecological treatment or exams. He has pleaded not guilty to 35 felony counts and remains free on bail. No trial date has been set.

His civil defence lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Tyndall was technically a party to the USC settlement but lacks any funds to contribute, Vince Finaldi, a lead plaintiffs lawyer and negotiator of the deal, told Reuters.

The former physician, now in his 70s, was deposed for the civil litigation but invoked his 5th Amendment right under the US Constitution to avoid self-incrimination, Finaldi said.

The flood of lawsuits brought by former patients against Tyndall and USC accused the university of negligence and complicity, asserting university officials were aware of his misconduct for years but kept him in a position to continue preying on students placed in his care.

“The enormous size of this settlement speaks to the immense harm done to our clients and the culpability of USC,” plaintiffs attorney John Manley said in a statement.

“It is a direct result of a billionaire-dominated board of trustees that placed fundraising, prestige and the ‘USC brand’ above the safety of vulnerable female students.”

Widespread faculty and student outrage over the university’s handling of the matter after allegations against Tyndall surfaced in media accounts in 2018 led then-USC president CL Max Nikias to resign.

The scandal even prompted the Chinese government to voice “deep concern” over published reports that many of the alleged victims were students from China.

‘MUCH-NEEDED RESOLUTION’

The USC board of trustees ratified Thursday’s settlement, which the university said was reached with assistance from a private mediator and a Los Angeles County superior court judge.

“I’m deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community,” USC’s current president, Carol Folt, said.

“We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much-needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall.”

University officials have previously acknowledged failing to act on complaints made against Tyndall between 2000 and 2014 but denied a deliberate cover-up.

Trustees chair Rick Caruso, named to head the board after the scandal came to light, conceded on Thursday that the university “fell short by not doing everything it could to protect those who matter to us most — our students”.

Individual payouts in the latest settlement would likely range from mid-six-figure sums to millions of dollars, Finaldi said.

The USC settlement far exceeds the $500m payout agreed to by Michigan State University to resolve civil claims stemming from allegations of serial sexual abuse levelled against Larry Nassar, a former US Gymnastics team doctor on the university’s staff.

Nassar was sentenced to up to 300 years in prison in a pair of 2018 trials after more than 350 women testified about abuse at his hands.

By comparison, the Los Angeles Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church paid out $660m in 2007 to 508 victims of sex abuse by multiple members of the clergy.