USC OKS $215M settlement in women’s abuse suit

LOS ANGELES — The University of Southern California on Friday announced a tentative agreement for a $215 million class-action settlement of claims involving alleged sexual harassment and abuse by a gynecologist who treated hundreds of students over decades.

The agreement would provide compensation ranging from $2,500 to $250,000 to women who have claimed abuse by Dr. George Tyndall between 1988 and 2016, USC Interim President Wanda Austin said in a statement.

About 500 current and former students have made accusations against Tyndall. They say he made crude comments, took inappropriate photos, forced them to strip naked and groped them.

The settlement specifically applies to a pending federal class-action lawsuit that involves about 40 women who have accused Tyndall, according to John Manly, an attorney who represents 180 women who have accused the gynecologist.

The hundreds of women who have filed various lawsuits against the university can join the lawsuit affected by the agreement, but Manly said he is strongly advising his clients against doing so.

“The only guaranteed number in this case is $2,500,” Manly said, adding that “$2,500 won’t even get you a 50-yard-line seat at a USC football game, let alone compensate somebody for being sexually assaulted by their doctor when they were 18 or 17.”

If the settlement is approved, any victims who have not yet come forward and filed legal action will be held to its terms, Manly said, adding that USC clearly wants to cap future damages.

The university was first criticized in the case after the Los Angeles Times reported this year that complaints and comments about Tyndall’s care went unheeded by the school for decades.