11:48 AM
USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee will pay $380 million to settle lawsuits filed by survivors of former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar.
After more than five years of litigation, the case against the convicted serial sexual predator has been settled after mediation in Indianapolis. More than 500 people eventually filed claims against Nassar's former employers.
The total amount of settlements in sexual assault cases is the largest involving a single person, according to the attorney.
Hundreds of survivors refused to be silent despite legal obstacles and the best corporate legal talent money can buy. The power of their story eventually won the day.
A formal agreement was reached Monday, according to a number of people, including the lawyer for more than 180 Nassar survivors. He wouldn't discuss details of the mediation talks beyond the timing, but he did say that he has done thousands of cases in his life. This is the one I'm proudest of.
Nassar was a volunteer with USA Gymnastics for more than two decades and served as the national team's medical coordinator. He pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and to sexually abusing his patients. He was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for his crimes. Despite years of complaints and warning signs, officials from USA Gymnastics, the USOPC and Michigan State University failed to stop Nassar's abuse.
A source with knowledge of the mediation talks said that a committee of survivors of Nassar's abuse, which included former Olympians Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Tasha Schwikert as well as attorneys, had rejected earlier settlement offers.
The settlement occurred because of a five-year, bare-knuckled legal fight the USOPC and USA Gymnastics decided to initiate against me and 500-plus sister survivors. Klein, who served as a co-chair of the survivors committee, said Monday that they had prevailed.
The first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault commented on the historic settlement.
This chapter is over. The hard work of reform and rebuilding can begin now. Denhollander said whether or not justice comes and change is made depends on what happens next.
The settlement includes litigation against the former CEO of USA Gymnastics and the national team coaches who led Team USA to multiple Olympic gold medals. As part of the Nassar investigation,Penny was charged with evidence tampering. His case is pending after he pleaded not guilty.
USA Gymnastics agreed to set up a program that will give survivors a say in how the organization addresses sexual assault issues in the future.
Mick Grewal is an attorney who is representing dozens of women in the case. Every institution that has a sexual assault problem will have a gold standard.
USA Gymnastics had not secured funding for a $400 million settlement that the two parties initially proposed in October. He said that part of the compromise was making sure that the non-monetary provisions helped bring about future change in the sport.
Denhollander said that he was proud of the nonmonetary reform commitments and that he was eager to see the changes through.
They said their clients would continue to fight for accountability for failing to stop Nassar's abuse sooner. The Department of Justice said in October that it was looking into the possibility of bringing charges against former FBI agents who received complaints about Nassar. The agents made several egregious mistakes in how they handled the case, which allowed Nassar to continue abusing patients for more than a year before he was arrested by university police at Michigan State.
We have done our jobs. Attorney General Garland has not done his job. The FBI and USOPC did not allow Nassar to molest us as children. Klein said Monday that he would not rest until that happened.
