USC agrees US$852 million sex abuse payout over gynaecologist George Tyndall, who targeted Asian students
- Tyndall faces 35 criminal counts of alleged sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016 at the university’s student health centre
- Confidential records published in 2019 indicated that ‘if the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed’ by Tyndall
The University of Southern California (USC) has agreed to a US$852 million settlement with more than 700 women who have accused the college’s long-time campus gynaecologist of sexual abuse, the victims’ lawyers and USC announced on Thursday.
When combined with an earlier settlement of a separate class-action suit, USC has agreed to pay out more than $1 billion for claims against Dr. George Tyndall who worked at the school for nearly three decades.
Tyndall, 74, faces 35 criminal counts of alleged sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2016 at the university’s student health centre. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.
Hundreds of women came forward to report their allegations to police but some of the cases fell outside the 10-year statute of limitations, while others did not rise to the level of criminal charges or lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute. Still, he faces up to 64 years in prison if convicted.
Confidential records show decades of warnings to USC about Tyndall. The documents, released in 2019, span the entirety of Tyndall’s career at USC, including a handwritten complaint in 1990 about a “rude” exam and a lengthy expert analysis in 2016 that posited the gynaecologist had “underlying psychopathy”.
Among the revelations was that USC was told in that expert report that Tyndall appeared to be targeting international students from Asian countries. This was a particularly sensitive issue for USC, which has aggressively courted Chinese students and donors.
As described in the report from Colorado-based medical consulting firm MDReview: “If the patients were young and Asian, they were more likely to have a pelvic exam completed” by Tyndall.
“I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community,” USC President Carol L. Folt said in a statement. “We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall.”