A $215 million USC sexual assault settlement has been tentatively reached in the federal class action lawsuit against Dr. George Tyndall and the university.

Tyndall was a gynecologist at USC for nearly 30 years. He’s accused of sexually abusing thousands of women who trusted him as their physician on campus. No charges have been filed against Tyndall, but police investigations are continuing.

Tyndall left the university abruptly in June 2017 as allegations swirled around him, all of which prompted an internal investigation. He purportedly landed an undisclosed deal that included a monetary payout. But claims continued until now with news of the USC sexual assault settlement. 

Now, an estimated 17,000 women are eligible for compensation through the federal USC sexual assault settlement, according to The New York Times. The former patients, who each could receive a base payment of $2,500, also could be eligible for more monetary compensation of up to $250,000 if they provide details of their sexual assault.

Some legal experts have expressed disdain for the settlement, and are encouraging their plaintiffs to opt out of the USC sexual assault settlement in favor of filing their own individual lawsuit. The settlement also does not affect more than 400 individual unresolved lawsuits that remain pending.

USC Sexual Assault Settlement Leaves Unanswered Questions

USC has been criticized for a variety of reasons surrounding the Tyndall situation.

Why was Tyndall’s behavior able to go on unchecked for so long? The only person Tyndall reported to has now passed away. Dr. Larry Neinstein was USC’s health center director from 1995 through 2014, but he allegedly tried to just speak to Tyndall one-on-one about the reports of sexually charged comments or sexually inappropriate touching. Neinstein also made sure Tyndall obtained external credentialing every two years, according to a USC report now made public.

After conducting an internal investigation went on for a year, USC finally forced out their primary gynecologist. Still, the university officials never reported their findings to the state medical board, which would have done their own investigation into the sexual abuse allegations. The university has said when they found out they were not legally obligated to notify the medical board, they simply chose not to do so.

According to USC’s report, women complained of Tyndall making racially insensitive comments and sexually inappropriate comments. They alleged he was insensitive to patient privacy, “unprofessional,” and made women feel “uncomfortable,” in part because of his tendency to compliment them on their skin or other physical attributes he found attractive.

His crass and inappropriate comments made in 2007 during one woman’s exam still have her feeling self-conscious during sexual encounters, she told The New York Times.

In his final years at USC, Tyndall allegedly targeted many of the university’s Chinese students. The New York Times spoke with several Chinese students on campus who said their culture is not one that speaks openly of sex education, and if a doctor in the U.S. declared his actions as normal, few Chinese students would question the doctor.

Some investigators theorize that Tyndall changed his M.O. and preyed upon Chinese students almost exclusively because he thought they would be less apt to recognize his behavior as aberrant and also would be less likely to report his sexually abusive behavior to anyone.

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