Survivors are still coming forward and initiating civil lawsuits against U of M for its role in allowing their physician and sports team doctor, Robert Anderson, to sexually abuse people for decades.
Formal mediation for survivors of Robert Anderson’s sexual abuse will begin in September. Survivors are still coming forward, and it is expected that there will be hundreds of survivors involved in the mediation, which, as of now, is scheduled to last for eight days. The dates have been set aside by federal judge Victoria Roberts.
This mediation is viewed as a step in the right direction. When comparing University of Michigan’s actions to those of other universities that were responsible for allowing sexual abuse to occur, such as Michigan State University, University of Southern California, Penn State, and Ohio State University, U of M started to take action to help survivors fairly quickly.
U of M has, however, undertaken some questionable actions since the abuse started to come to light. Although U of M did admit that Robert Anderson sexually assaulted students, the university appears to have tried to steer survivors away from filing lawsuits by contacting everyone who called the university hotline (which they had set up for anyone who had information regarding Robert Anderson’s sexual abuse). In addition, at the beginning of this month, U of M stated “that it would send letters to 300,000 alumni asking for anyone who was assaulted by Anderson to contact WilmerHale,” which is the law firm U of M hired to “independently” investigate allegations of Robert Anderson’s sexual abuse. Judge Roberts stated that she would ban U of M from engaging in a massive outreach such as this, and indeed, she wrote an order today, banning this type of activity.
When Judge Roberts set aside time for the mediation, she also ordered WilmerHale to come to her courtroom to discuss their investigation. Judge Roberts made it clear that she wanted to know more about how WilmerHale was conducting an investigation since it was occurring at the same time as the federal lawsuit.
Lawyers representing survivors who are suing U of M stated that WilmerHale “should not be doing anything to interfere with the suits” and that “the whole process should go through the court system.”
One of the lawyers asked Judge Roberts to order University of Michigan to provide the plaintiffs’ lawyers with the items that resulted from WilmerHale’s investigation, but as of today, this has not been ordered.
Judge Roberts indicated that she would like information regarding potential overlap of WilmerHale’s investigation and the federal lawsuits. She stated that “[t]here’s no way on earth what we are doing here can be independent of what WilmerHale is doing.”
There is still time to file a civil lawsuit against University of Michigan for its role in allowing Robert Anderson to abuse people for decades.
The attorneys at Grewal Law have written extensively about how University of Michigan officials enabled Robert Anderson to sexually abuse people for decades. Anderson abused students, student athletes, medical students, dental students, members of the LGBT community, pilots, men about to be drafted into the Vietnam war, people who needed mandatory physicals for their employers, and others.
It is possible to file a civil lawsuit against any person, business or corporation that allowed sexual abuse to occur. Since the University of Michigan was aware of sexual misconduct allegations against Robert Anderson and did not take steps to protect its students – or any potential patient of Anderson’s – U of M must be held accountable.
The nationally recognized sexual assault attorneys at Grewal Law have been fighting for the rights of victims for decades, and they have made it their mission to hold sexual abusers accountable – and to stop institutional involvement in sexual abuse.
Grewal Law has a record of success in holding corporations accountable for abuse.
Grewal Law represented a third of the plaintiffs in the MSU and Larry Nassar lawsuits, and the Grewal team was instrumental in obtaining the half a billion-dollar settlement from MSU. Currently, the award-winning lawyers at Grewal Law are fighting to hold USAG and USOC accountable for their roles in allowing Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse to occur. Our attorneys at Grewal Law understand what it takes to prevail against sexual predators and the companies that allow their sexual misconduct to occur.
If you believe you were sexually assaulted or abused by Robert Anderson, please contact our firm’s award-winning attorneys at (888) 211-5798 for a free consultation. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help you.
With more than 29 years of experience, Mick Grewal has the skills and knowledge to help his clients accomplish their goals, whether such pursuits involve sexual assualt advocacy, personal injury or medical malpractice matters. Founder and managing partner of Grewal Law, Mr. Grewal prides himself on providing full-service legal help to families in the greater area of Lansing, Michigan.
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