University to pay $490M in sex abuse settlement

The University of Michigan said Wednesday it has agreed to pay US$490 million to settle claims from hundreds of people who say a longtime sports doctor on its staff sexually abused them over many years.

The settlement will resolve claims and lawsuits from about 1,050 people, including former football players, who say the late Robert Anderson molested them during physical exams.

Anderson, who was on the university's staff from 1966 to 2003, died in 2008. The scandal over his conduct broke in 2020. Survivors have told investigators and others that they repeatedly complained about the doctor to coaches, trainers and administrators, to no avail.

“This historic settlement was achieved because survivors of sex abuse refused to be silenced and demanded accountability from their abuser, Robert Anderson and the University of Michigan,” Parker Stinar, an attorney who represents about 200 survivors, said in a statement. “These survivors deserved justice and this resolution will help them with their healing process.”

Jordan Acker, chair of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, said in a statement: “We hope this settlement will begin the healing process for survivors. At the same time, the work that began two years ago, when the first brave survivors came forward, will continue.”

The university said the settlement agreement is pending approval from the Board of Regents, 98 per cent of claimants and a federal court overseeing the case.

The settlement underscores the human toll from one the largest sex abuse scandals at any American university. In the past decade, abuse cases of startling magnitude have emerged at Pennsylvania State University, Michigan State University, the University of Southern California and Ohio State University.

The financial stakes for these schools are enormous. USC last year revealed that it has agreed to pay more than $1 billion for legal settlements of claims alleging misconduct by former gynecologist George Tyndall.

Skeptics questioned whether the University of Michigan is doing enough to compensate those who suffered abuse.

Rebekah Modrak, a professor with the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan, said many faculty members were anticipating a settlement in the range of $900 million to $1 billion, so the numbers do not look good for victims.

“I think the settlement shows that sexual assault victims on U-M's campus have no to little value,” she wrote in an email Wednesday. “The University of Michigan essentially just manipulated another coverup.”