3 Chinese file lawsuits against USC
Print Edition
THREE former Chinese students from the University of Southern California have filed lawsuits against the USC for damages caused by long-time gynecologist George Tyndall, their attorneys said on Tuesday.
Tyndall had worked as the only full-time gynecologist at the USC student clinic for 27 years. Complaints of Tyndall’s misconduct toward young female patients include improper photographing of genitals, improper touching during pelvic exams, and making sexually suggestive comments.
The lawsuits were filed by Deng Law Center, in collaboration with Girardi & Keese, an accomplished personal injury law firm based out of Los Angeles.
“This is an important case, not only to the people who were harmed, but to young people all over,” said Thomas Girardi, attorney of Girardi & Keese.
“To have a university like this, to permit something like this is truly disgusting. It is a devastating situation,” Girardi said.
“There has to be strength to fight back, making sure to help these people who have been harmed, and to tell these schools ‘you better not do this again,’” Girardi said.
Six women sued USC on Monday in separate lawsuits alleging that the university had failed to address the complaints against Tyndall.
“Women who experienced abuse of this nature frequently have issues of intimacy in marriage and other relationships,” said Alexandra Steele, another attorney of Girardi & Keese. “It is a woman’s health issue too, because it makes those women less likely to go back to doctors for health screening.”
According to Deng Law Center, California ended its statute of limitations on rape cases after Bill Cosby. Before 2016, the statute of limitations in California for sex crimes was just 10 years.
“It means police can pursue a case if they have enough evidence,” said Daniel Deng, the founder of Deng Law Center, who called for more victims to come forward.
“There would be compensations obviously for emotional distress caused by the actions of this doctor and the university,” said David Lira, attorney with Girardi & Keese. “Possibly there could be a claim inserted for punitive damages, because the conduct is outrageous, reckless and despicable.”
“The university has a legal and moral duty to protect these young students. They failed to do that,” Lira added.
Deng said the three former USC students from China who filed lawsuits against USC have already returned home after graduation.
According to the Los Angeles Times, some colleagues of Tyndall feared that the gynecologist was targeting the university’s growing population of Chinese students in recent years.
Those Chinese students often had a limited knowledge of the English language and American medical norms.
The Consulate General of China in Los Angeles expressed serious concern over the scandal, requesting that the university take serious steps to investigate the issue and protect Chinese students from illegal acts.
Meanwhile, 200 faculty members of the university called for the USC’s top official to resign.
The demand for USC President C.L. Max Nikias to step down came in an open letter from professors to the school’s Board of Trustees as USC faced a mounting tide of litigation.
Responding to the faculty letter, USC Board of Trustees Chairman John Mork said in a statement that the board’s executive committee had “full confidence” in Nikias.
Tyndall resigned from the university last year after an internal inquiry found his pelvic examination practices were beyond accepted medical standards and that he had harassed patients.
More than 2,200 students, alumni and others at USC, one of the most prestigious private US institutions of higher education, signed a separate online petition calling for Nikias’ ouster as the campus reeled from its third major personnel scandal since last year. The university has acknowledged failing to properly act on at least eight complaints between 2000 and 2014.
Tyndall, 71, has denied wrongdoing and defended the efficacy of his medical exams in interviews to the Los Angeles Times.
An LAPD spokesman, Tony Im, said police “have no active criminal investigation on this matter.”
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