EAST LANSING, Michigan In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, women who had been sexually assaulted by former Michigan State University sports physician Larry Nassar claimed the university had made “secret decisions” about disclosing information in the case.
According to the survivors and parents’ group, the lawsuit is meant to hold the university accountable, not to demand money. They claim that the institution withheld emails about the board of trustees’ deliberations and later failed to turn over more than 6,000 documents to investigate how Nassar was permitted to get away with his behavior. According to the school, the records are shielded by the attorney-client privilege.
After confessing to assaulting some of the best gymnasts in the country for years under the pretense of medical care, Nassar was given a sentence of 40 to 175 years in jail in 2018. He was charged with assaulting hundreds of women and girls sexually.
How Michigan State handled the Nassar investigation and its interactions with survivors after his arrest and conviction have drawn criticism. Nassar victims’ cases against the institution were resolved for $500 million.
A representative for Michigan State, Mark Bullion, stated in an email on Thursday that the university does not comment on ongoing legal matters and has not been informed of or served with the new lawsuit.
Women who had been sexually assaulted by former Michigan State University sports physician Larry Nassar claimed the university had made “secret decisions” about disclosing information in the case.
According to a news release, the legal suit names the school and its elected trustee board and claims that decisions and “secret votes” made by a public body violated Michigan’s open meetings regulations and the state Constitution.
Victims’ attorney Azzam Elder stated in a release that “we contend that board members made a behind-closed-doors secret decision not to release the records in blatant violation of the Open Meetings Act.” When we asked for emails demonstrating that they debated and reached a decision on the topic behind closed doors in violation of the law, they responded by violating the Freedom of Information Act.
The lawsuit demands that the university hand over emails and other communications regarding any decisions that trustees may have made privately, that a court rule that Michigan State violated the Freedom of Information Act and that the university subsequently adheres to both the FOIA and the Open Meetings Act.
Women who had been sexually assaulted by former Michigan State University sports physician Larry Nassar claimed the university had made “secret decisions” about disclosing information in the case.
To shed light on what the school knew regarding the abuse, Attorney General Dana Nessel has requested that the school provide more than 6,000 records. Due to the university’s refusal to turn over records about the issue, she had to call a stop to her inquiry into the school’s handling of the Larry Nassar case in 2021.
Before the lawsuit was filed on Thursday, Nasar victim Melissa Brown Hudecz said, “This is about who knew what, when at the university.” “Until we are certain that everyone who supported a predator is responsible, our community won’t be able to recover. The board is increasing survivors’ trauma by safeguarding the 6,000 secret documents and anyone named in them while also abdicating institutional responsibility.
Nassar was stabbed numerous times earlier this month in his Florida federal prison cell by another inmate. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the prisoner said Nassar incited the attack by making a vulgar remark about wanting to watch ladies compete in Wimbledon women’s tennis matches while they were watching the tournament on television. The individual spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack’s specifics or the current investigation.
SOURCE – (AP)
