September 6, 2019 — The government has ordered Michigan State University (MSU) to pay a $4.5 million fine and make substantial changes to the way it handles sexual assault complaints.
The fine comes after a scandal involving Larry Nassar, a sports doctor at MSU who molested hundreds female athletes, as well as his boss William Strampel, who faces his own sexual harassment accusations.
The University of Southern California (USC) is in the midst of a similar scandal involving George Tyndall, a gynecologist who was arrested and charged with 29 felonies for allegedly abusing hundreds of girls.
The U.S. Department of Education found MSU in violation of the Clery Act, a federal law that requires universities to collect data on campus crime and notify students of potential threats, as well as Title IX, another federal law that forbids gender discrimination in education.
John Manly, a lawyer who represented Nassar’s victims, said the fine is not serious enough:
“Just this week, the government fined YouTube $170 million for simply monitoring kids illegally. Here we have a university that engaged in the systemic protection of a pedophile.”
Last year, MSU agreed to pay a $500 million settlement over the Nassar scandal. About $425 million went to 333 people who filed sexual abuse lawsuits. Dozens more lawsuits have yet to be resolved.
Meanwhile at USC, a federal judge approved a $215 million class action settlement with former patients of Dr. George Tyndall. John Manly and other lawyers are now representing hundreds of victims,.
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