Allegation of sexual abuse: US university compensates female students with $ 215 million

The University of Southern California is a prestigious private university in Los Angeles that also offers a health service to its approximately 47,000 students. There worked from 1988 to 2016, a gynecologist who is said to have sexually harassed hundreds of women.

Approximately 500 former and current students have filed suit against George Tyndall in various courts, reports the AP news agency. They accuse the gynecologist of having made inappropriate photos and suggestive slogans, of forcing them to undress and groping under the pretext of medical treatment.

Also, the role of the University of Southern California (USC) will employ the courts in the coming months. In August, University President CL Max Nikias resigned. He was criticized because the university for years ignored complaints about Tyndall.

Now, the university has announced that it will compensate students with a total of 215 million US dollars. In a class action agreement, they have reached an agreement, said the University on Friday on their homepage. Thus, in this case, there is no longer a procedure.

"I regret that students have felt in any way uncomfortable, threatened or abused by the actions of a university employee," interim president Wanda Austin writes.

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Compensation should help the university community on the road to reconciliation, the statement said. Each doctor's previous patient should receive a lump sum of $ 2500. Those willing to disclose details of their negative experiences with Tyndall could be compensated with up to $ 250,000. The agreement has yet to be approved by a court.

Tyndall rejects the allegations. He has not been convicted. AP quoted three lawyers from the victims, who advise their clients to accept the compensation of the university. "For what some victims have experienced, that's an annoying sum that could not adequately compensate," said lawyer Gloria Allred.

Attorney John Manly complained that the university had sought to avert even higher payments with the agreement - and that its role in the scandal could be ruled out. "We still do not know since when USC knew how many times it was warned which members of the administration were involved and whether there was criminal behavior," Manly said.

An attorney at the college said the issue of criminal behavior continued, regardless of the current agreement that addresses the needs of the victims.