Tyndall settlement approved


A judge issued final approval of the $215 million settlement in the case of former campus gynecologist George Tyndall in federal court Friday. 

The settlement was initially proposed in October 2018 but was delayed six months for modifications, including expanding the number of experts that will determine the payouts from one person to three and describing the tiered system for determining payouts in greater detail. Last month, a federal judge indicated he would give approval for the agreement.

The final version of the settlement will provide payouts ranging from $2,500 to $250,000 to Tyndall’s nearly 18,000 former patients. A panel jointly approved by the University and the class action lawyers comprising a gynecologist, a forensic psychologist and a retired federal judge will determine the amount of each payout for women who elect to make impact statements. 

The settlement also calls for the appointment of an external consultant and an independent women’s health advocate at the University. The consultant, sexual violence prevention expert Nancy Cantalupo, arrived at USC in the summer and has worked on the implementation of the Cultural Values Poll and the compilation of its results. 

Earlier this month, the class counsel proposed Virginia Commonwealth University professor Charol Shakeshaft as the women’s health advocate, who will work with USC Student Health, the Office of Professionalism and Ethics and the Office of Equity and Diversity to oversee the handling of sexual and racial misconduct complaints. 

Tyndall was arrested in June following a 2018 Los Angeles Times investigation into the sexual abuse of his patients over his nearly 30-year tenure as a doctor at Student Health. He faces 18 felony counts of sexual assault and 11 of sexual battery taking place between 2009 and 2016 and will stand trial in separate criminal proceedings conducted by the L.A. District Attorney’s Office.