LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California has agreed to an $852 million settlement with over 700 women who accused the college’s longtime campus gynecologist of sexual abuse.
The agreement announced Thursday is believed to be a record amount for such a case. It dwarfs the $500 million that Michigan State University agreed to pay in 2018 to settle claims against sports doctor Larry Nassar.
When combined with a $215 million settlement of a separate class-action suit, USC has agreed to pay out over $1 billion for claims against 74-year-old Dr. George Tyndall, who worked at the school for nearly 30 years. Tyndall faces 35 criminal counts of sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016.
He's pleaded not guilty and his attorney again denied the allegations on Thursday.
"USC is not the only university that has a dirty doctor," said attorney John Manley representing the victims. "UCLA has one, we know there was one at John Hopkins. We know there was one at Michigan State, Larry Nassar. This is a phenomenon in medicine that needs to be exposed."
"USC had this vicious indifference to their students, health and safety," Allison Rowland, an abuse survivor, said. "It turns out I wasn't another piece of meat just for Tinder. I was really just a piece of meat for USC as well."
