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Michigan State University was named as a defendant today in our first Notice of Intention to File a Claim in the Court of Claims pursuant to MCL 600.6431, on behalf of a minor.  The Notice alleges on at least 8 office visits with Lawrence Nassar, D.O., at the Sports Medicine Clinic – MSU over the course of a two-year period, Nassar gradually engaged in more and more inappropriate sexual touching.  He would rest his fingers on her genitals after moving her underwear away without wearing gloves, allegedly treating her for minor low back pain.  He would insist she put on a medical gown, stand behind her, and ask her to bend over.  He frequently fondled her butt and conducted acupuncture low on her mons pubis.  Photographs were attached to our Notice.

The legal allegations we apprised MSU of are: medical negligence, medical malpractice, gross negligence, ordinary negligence, assault and battery, civil rights violations, sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to train and supervise, vicarious liability, negligent supervision, negligent failure to warn and protect, negligent retention, fraud and misrepresentation, discrimination, and Title IX violations.  This violation of trust began years earlier at Twistars, where he had her and all the dozens of other people I have now talked to call him “Larry.”  Every other physician she calls “doctor,” including the other MSU physicians who would accompany him to the various gymnastics centers.  He offered her appointments at his private residence and she was told not to call him at the office but rather text his cell phone.

As a result of my last blog post, I have been contacted by PSU alumni claiming I unfairly characterized PSU for “waiting too long to accept responsibility.”  What they took out of context was, I was not talking about the amount of time it took from publically admitting the cover up to the $90 million settlement for the 30 victims/survivors, but rather how long it took from when PSU knew or should have known until it accepted their responsibility.

Here at MSU:

“She told Michigan State University she was sexually assaulted by Dr. Larry Nassar during a visit to his campus office in 2014 for treatment of hip pain.

MSU told her she wasn’t.

She said Nassar cupped her buttocks, massaged her breast and vaginal area.  She said he became sexually aroused.

MSU’s Title IX office, which investigates gender discrimination claims including allegations of sexual assault and harassment, determined she didn’t understand the ‘nuanced difference’ between sexual assault and an appropriate medical procedure.” See the Lansing State Journal 12/18/16 article, “They Just Didn’t Listen.”

No MSU, you didn’t understand the difference between young girls and women telling you the truth, and a serial child sexual predator.  This most unfortunate cover up has the potential to be in excess of 10 times worse than the Penn State Sandusky catastrophe.

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