Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
The University of Southern California (USC) has announced it will pay out more than $1.1 billion to former patients of a campus gynecologist who is accused of sexually abusing students.
The payout is the result of three settlements, the largest and most recent of which was agreed upon Thursday, according to USC. This $852 million settlement of state court lawsuits is set to see 710 alleged victims of Dr. George Tyndall receive an average of $1.2 million each, Law360 reported.
If you or a loved one faced clergy abuse in California by the Catholic Church or another institution, you may have a legal claim to file with the help of an experienced California abuse lawyer.
A 2018 federal class action was settled in February 2020 for $215 million, and covers about 18,000 alleged victims of Tyndall who will receive an average of about $15,000 each.
At the time, objectors argued that settlement was too low, and hundreds of plaintiffs opted out to pursue their claims independently in California courts. Those suits were addressed in the higher settlement announced Thursday afternoon.
The third settlement involved several dozen cases where the amount was not made public, the New York Times reported.
USC’s Response to Alleged Abuse Brought to Light
“I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community,” USC President Carol L. Folt said in a statement to the media. “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.”
At the heart of the lawsuits were both Tyndall’s alleged abuse, and how the university responded to reports of it during his almost 30-year tenure from 1989 to his resignation in 2017. The lawsuits allege the college ignored warnings about the doctor for decades.
Women who were treated by Tyndall at the University of Southern California claim the doctor sexually abused patients repeatedly during his long employment at the university.
According to the women, the doctor would ask inappropriate and sexual questions of patients, and would comment on their bodies when these practices were not medically necessary. Additionally, the women claim Tyndall would perform pelvic exams without using gloves, and would conduct unnecessary breast exams, doing so in a sexual manner.
Complaints about Tyndall’s conduct reportedly started in 1991 when an undergraduate student complained he had taken “improper photographs” of her genitalia.
Matters reportedly came to a head in 2016 when a nursing supervisor told the executive director of the USC Rape Crisis Center that Tyndall had been touching female students in an inappropriate manner.
He was put on administrative leave while the allegations were investigated. In a confidential deal made the following year, he was offered a financial incentive to resign and left with a clean record with the California state medical board.
A Landmark Settlement for Sexual Abuse
Lawyers for the plaintiffs told Law360 Thursday’s settlement was the largest ever for a sexual abuse case in U.S. history and the largest-known personal injury settlement against a university.
It is twice the size of the settlement won by victims of Michigan State University physician Lawrence Nassar, who sexually abused young women saying he was performing a medical treatment.
“This is tremendous vindication for all the women who suffered abuse at the hands of a disgusting doctor who had to endure inaction and a cover up by USC,” plaintiff in the state court case Nicole Haynes said in a statement to Law360.
Tyndall is currently awaiting trial on criminal sexual assault and abuse charges, according to The Washington Post.
What do you think about the results of this sexual abuse settlement? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Howard Janet of Janet Janet & Suggs LLC and Mike Arias of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos LLP and other firms.
The USC Gynecologist Sexual Abuse Class Action Lawsuits include Jane Doe No. 5 et al. v. Dr. George Tyndall et al., Case No. BC705677, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
