The federal government is now scrutinizing the campus sexual assault scandal surrounding Dr. George Tyndall of the University of Southern California (USC).

Of concern to the U.S. Education Department is the apparent lack of appropriate attention and concern by the university when multiple women registered complaints regarding the campus clinic doctor.

According to a Huffington Post article, eight women filed formal complaints against Tyndall between the years of 2000 and 2014, but the school didn’t follow up on these complaints with a proper investigative process. Apparently, the accusations of campus sexual assault by the eight were kept hidden by the administration until 2016.

At that time, the campus sexual assault complaints were belatedly given some credence when USC initiated a private review of the cases.

Dr. Tyndall Controversy

The university came to the conclusion that Dr. Tyndall undertook pelvic examinations whose nature and parameters were beyond that of which was necessary for the preventative health of the patients involved. The claimants say that his behavior during these health screenings were tantamount to campus sexual assault.

Tyndall was suspended during the review of complaints. When conclusions were drawn, he was given the opportunity to resign his post without a lot of press involvement or fanfare.

The fact that this action was not immediately followed up by a report to the State of California Medical Board of his campus sexual assault activities started a huge controversy.

Dr. Tyndall tried to renew his medical license routinely eight months after his USC resignation, and only then did the university step up to bring their investigative conclusions before the eyes of the state medical board, according to the Huffington Post article.

The resulting campus sexual assault scandal led to the resignation of the university’s president who had been head of the prestigious school for eight years.

The pressure for President C.L. Max Nikias to resign had been mounting along with civil litigation against Dr. Tyndall for campus sexual assault. The litigation accused the university of turning a blind eye towards Tyndall’s activities by not immediately acting on formal complaints. Many purportedly claimed that USC was negligent in protecting its students.

A criminal investigation has been started by the Los Angeles Police Department in response to over 50 formal complaints by former student patients of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching during pelvic examination.

Some of these complaints do refer to their experience with Dr. Tyndall without mincing words. The timeline for these violations extends from 1990 to 2016. Additionally, USC set up a website and hotline and received four hundred plus reports from current and former patients.

The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has meanwhile expressed the intention of scrutinizing USC administration’s response to reports of sexual inappropriateness on the part of Dr. Tyndall during that time range. Betsy Devos, Education Secretary, has commented that “[n]o student should ever endure sexual harassment or abuse while trying to pursue their education.”

UPDATE: July 2019, the USC, George Tyndall sexual misconduct class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.