I will look in vain for follow-up articles on how the settlement money will be distributed among how may victims, how victims will be qualified as participants in the pay out (and how undeserving claimants will be disqualified) and how much will go to lawyers.
1
I have faith that consumers (i.e., benefactors, professors, alumni, students and prospective students) will make appropriate decisions about their association with universities such as MSU, Baylor and PSU (its a long list) that have a sports first approach to their college culture.
BEST joke of the day!!!
1
As a personal injury lawyer the size and speed of this settlement (involving over 300 claimants) seems to me like the kind of settlement you get when the defense is under great pressure to settle. This raises an interesting question: Did Michigan State demand as part of this settlement that no employees or administrators of Michigan State could be sued as part of this settlement? If so, did this give the top administrators at Michigan State personal incentives to spend a lot of taxpayer money for a quick settlement?
1
The number that is truly staggering is 332.
How could this have go on for so long and not been stopped?
More than 1 person should be doing hard time.
Take the money out of the six and seven figure athletic salaries.
1
about 20 of the victims were msu students or athletes treated at msu. the rest were usa gymnastic athltetes with nothing to do with msu as nassar was also employed there. the lawyers saw msu with the deep pockets.
3
"Dwarfs" Other Settlements?
Come on Times, you can do better than that.
3
$500 million dollars? You say; The university is also expected to try to recoup some of its costs from insurance. These universities got this kind of money laying around? No wonder it cost my kids so much to go to school. Were the insurance companies doing their job by checking occasionally? This is reminiscent of the Catholic Church coming up with about $600 million for its abuse scandals. What are these institutions doing having all this ‘reserve’ money while always asking for more? And the football coaches are still making 2 or 3 million a year? How about investigating this, too?
1
What Nasser did is inexcusable. But as MSU is a state school, this means every Michigan taxpayer -- who had nothing to do with this crime -- will have to folk over hundreds of dollars each. Much of which will just go to lawyers.
1
Was another source of payment for the crime of violating innocents inadvertently missing? Purposely left out, or what? The honor of being a university trustee surely has an economic side to it as well? What responsibilities do Trustees have? Not only for the safety and well being of a university - physical plant, plants, planting information -knowledge- understanding?Also for unconstrained opportunities for staff and students to grow and develop everyday? Also to effectively, and PERSONALLY, “handle” a range of anticipated as well as unexpected outcomes? Including debts? And as this university makes much needed changes will it create sustainable ways, both formally and informally, for it diverse populations to become aware of toxic complacency and not get caught up in its infectiousness? Also- willful blindness about what exists which demands attention.Learning to look.Permitting oneself and choosing to See. That which IS. Which shouldn’t BE. Because of its implications and outcomes to... Temporary or more permanent ones. As well as to perceive, as best as any of US can, what is missing which is critically needed. To create and sustain types,levels and qualities of well being. Enabled by sharing equitable human and nonhuman resources.In timely “deliveries.” Changing willful deafness.Of voiced, as well as muted,pain.Anxieties. Fears.Confusion.And just as the cheering of fans is essential for athletic performances, winning as well as losing, silence about violators is...?
What about those 19 women who "falsely" accused President Trump of molesting them? I haven't seen much news recently of the progress of his lawsuit against them.
1
Students get abused, are ignored by the university's administration when they report it, and now have to shoulder the cost of the settlement? Outrageous.
Students should have gone to law enforcement. It’s their fault to report to Title IX officials and administrators. Sexual abusers need to be in jail, no expelled from school.
1
This ridiculous amount will be struck down and reduced. NO lawsuit is worth 500,000,000 for a sexual abuse charge.
$500,000,000 is a number. It has no inherent meaning other than what each of US give to it. Take from it. Do with it. An attorney attributes institutional acknowledged responsibility to it very size. Misleading on numerous counts! What began, happened, and was sustained, as innocents were VIOLATED, was not done by a system. It was done by people. Complicit as well as active violating ones. Diverse people. Within a culture that continues to enable a culture of physical, psychological, social, economic, political, spiritual, etc. “violation” in which personal responsibility is not a norm. A core ethic.A value which underpins mutual caring, trusting, respectful interrelationships between kin, neighbors, friends, colleagues and even strangers.A fellow Being was charged, convicted and adjudicated as a sexual predator. Aninstitution will pay money which is “balmless” to the violated, maimed and pained.Will competetive sports, amateur and professional, local, national and global, be able to minimize-if it can’t prevent-the politics of contemporary athletics? The commodification of athletes as objects -to-be-profited- from? How likely is it that “doping” as a focus , and answer, will be recognized as misleading US; myopically attending to “guilt by urination,” when massive corruption amongst ...exists.Is enabled. When fans-you and me-can foster head concussions, +++ $500,000,000, akin to 500,000 dead in Syria, and sundry other numbers transmute people, pain, life itself into...?
Punishing the students and the tax payers is just wrong. The students are not culpable, the administration and the board of regents are, bankrupt them. There isn't enough money in the state of michigan's coffers to get safe drinking water to Flint... and now they are going to pay for this criminals behavior? Really? I Know if my note gets published, I'll get a lot of hateful responses... and before you begin: the death penalty is too good for this guy.. but stop kidney- punching the students... they will be the one who pay.... cowards all
1
Looks like there's a new rivalry between Penn State and Michigan. Another great day for the Big Ten. Yay team.
A pound of flesh ??? No. Just a few ounces would do. For EACH victim.
1
Half a billion dollars. Enough to feed a country, or save a country from financial ruin. This is silly. The guy is a terrible and damaged human being, but over a million dollars to each of his victims, setting a very bad example. The fall of Rome.
2
Over $100 million, not just over $1 million.
Of course, attorneys need to be compensated to the tune of $200 million or so, to compensate them for their valuable time.
The justice system in the US is a joke.
"Michigan State's $500 million for Nassar victims dwarfs other settlements"...yet it will not be enough. There is not enough money, and there are not enough words...
A good reason to shut down all the Osteopathic Medical schools.
1
Fire every tenured faculty member and management administrator at the school. They are the people who decide what the culture and values of a university are. I guarantee you that if this happened every university in the country would race to transform itself. But if I am a tenured faculty member at another university right now, I read this story and conclude - this isn't my problem and is not my responsibility. Nothing systematic will change until you do this.
5
the size of the setllement has to to with one thing only. it benefits those individuals who were culpable and part of the problem at the university. this is just like shareholders paying for the crimes of corp. execs. you can bet they were released from liability.
wake up NYT.
Am I correct in assuming this money is coming out of the school's sports budget?
Uh, and why are tuitions so high if a "state" school has 500 million laying around? What a mess.
These heavy handed lawyers fighting for money will destroy university and nation. When You care for few and forget majority then that decision will be to death for the institution.
These sex scandals are going on since the beginning of human race and you can never stop.
All you need is educate people very early in life to be brave and truthful and fearless to talk , know the difference between good and bad , right and wrong .
These awards should not be given to victims alone but should be shared with future generation to educate them .
Every administrator in the line of authority who knew or should have known about the long-brewing scandal should be fired (no golden parachute please); anyone now gone who helped dodge this should be sued; every member of the "trustees" who looked the other way and avoided due diligence should be replaced. We don't need to look to the border to blame bad people. All these women have essentially been burned at the stake of abysmal administration.
Perhaps a good start toward justice for the victims. There is still an issue of rape culture on certain sports teams and the malfeasance or nonfeasance of the Board and Administration. When do they correct those wrongs?
The devil in in the details. The plaintiffs will have to drop their support for pending legislation that would favor them and approve watered down protection for future cases.
Their attorney sold them out !!
This horrible story is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, when it comes to the incidence of sexual abuse by physicians. State licensing must prohibit physical examinations of young persons without a nurse/witness present. I speak from personal experience.
I hope that some of this money will go toward an advertising campaign to convince women to report sexual abuse to law enforcement. No more reporting to volleyball associations, schools, gymnastic associations etc. Every woman or girl should be required to undergo education so there will never again be a situation where sexual abuse is only reported to a Title IX officer, school, or anyone but law enforcement. The Times can help by running a story on the advantages of reporting to law enforcement every week for the next 25 years. We must all end this cancer in our society of reporting abuse to anyone but law enforcement.
2
As a parent with two kids at State, I know that the settlement will result in higher tuition. Commencement this spring was clouded by Nassar mess. The University is further adding insult by allowing the now resigned University President to return with high 6 figure salary and paid housing. The empty cell next to Nassar needs to be filled by guilty administrators. Something this vile did not go unnoticed by a parent or university staff. Society: if you see or hear (something); SPEAK UP.
12
Lost in this travesty is the fact that a public institution has a half a BILLION dollars lying around that easily could be used to lower tuition and still offer great education. All colleges -- private and public -- are awash in money, and that's a sad state of affairs when an education at a state school can cost in upwards of $100k for four years. But hey -- I'm an idealist.
But...does the settlement admit fault, negligence and failure(s) to act? The victims need these critical admissions as much as the money although the latter dampens the matter somewhat. Still it's easy to see that a failure by MSU to admit fault would be a deal breaker for the victims.
The money is fine but who pays. The taxpayers of Michigan, the students who? The University should be forced to.sell 500 million of real estare to fund the settlement.
I'd love to know more about how this settlement, and Penn State's, could be covered by insurance. It seems impossible for either situation to have gone on for as many years as they did, with as many victims as they did, without University authorities becoming aware and not having the processes in place to address the issues. I can recall a time in my career as a young manager when a young woman employee came into my office and hinted at something that had happened between her and a more senior member of the staff. I sensed there was something more and ultimately human resources got engaged with both employees appropriately. I can't fathom large employers not having the follow through in place to prevent years of abuse by a single employee. What kind of insurance plan covers a complete breakdown of employer management responsibilities?
And what of the university officials, the president and others, who presided over this massive management failure. All retired on big fat pensions no doubt.
2
Huge settlements like this may satisfy money-oriented people, but it does nothing to punish the perpetrators and silent enablers, provide direct restorative services to victims, or directly change behavior of management. At the same time, it punishes tax payers, tuition-paying students, and potential financial aid recipients. No one really wins except some victims who move on with their lives and use the settlement money productively. I'm not sure that anyone even feels good about the outcome despite the new money in their pocket.
2
President Simon retired. Michigan State gave into a scam, nothing more. They have been vilified for months now and finally its paying off. MSU has the deepest pockets, that is why they must be seen as evil. This same scam will be coming to a school near you. When did money become a treatment? When did accusations not need to be proven?
2
MSU is a public institution so it's actually Michigan taxpayers paying the $500 billion.
1
Lou Anna Simon well known for her style of micromanagement of MSU affairs, must have nothing known of Nassar's and the osteopathic Dean's criminal acts. Chairpeople and assistant chair interacting with the Osteopathic Dean and the President must have had their suspicions as well. MSU does not have security clearing like the federal government and even that provide no guarantee against leaking, I allege that the board of trustees, the president, various deans and chairpeople and their assistant chairs were in collusion. Serious house cleaning has to be preformed to drain festering swamp in which Simons, her osteopathic Dean, chairpersons and their 'minion, have operated illegally for so many decades without external oversight und should be held accountable, go to jail and be stripped of their pensions, so that there is money to hire administrator with integrity to restore MSU to where it was before it corrupted L. Simon.
If this is a fair settlement in terms of compensation to the victims, it is obvious that it cannot be funded by individuals. And Larry Nassar probably has no money at this point. But, what about the administrators who turned a deaf ear to complaints? Do they skate with no financial exposure while the people of Michigan (tax payers, students, state employees) bear the enormous cost of this settlement? This is like the billion dollar fines that corporations pay which hurts their shareholders but leaves alone all the great salaries and bonuses paid to the executives who are at fault for the corporate misconduct.
46
I sincerely hope the settlement money helps the victims overcome the effects of these crimes. As for preventing this sort of thing from happening in the future, it's too bad the MSU staffers who protected Nassar don't have to help pay the settlement, other than losing their jobs. Criminal prosecution will help send a message to would be collaborators.
2
Part of that settlement should come out of the pensions of those in the chain of responsibility.
They'll cut student aid, TA stipends, and custodial salaries first.
Don't talk to me about football.
6
Glad I'm not a MI taxpayer and that I don't have a child there as a student. Citizens and students should not bear this cost - the institution and its insurers should bear the cost. Sell assets, sell off endowment investments, cut the operating budget to the bone... whatever it takes. But don't burden students and taxpayers with the cost of your institutional failure.
34
That donor who will continue donating …
Institutional cultures don't change in a year or two, any more than individual people do. Maybe in five or ten years, donors should check into whether MSU has truly and humbly changed its ways.
By the way, has anyone suggested raising the ticket prices for football and basketball games?
2
So, the university comes up with 500M and just takes it from other budget items or goes to the state to ask for more. How about terminating the football program or other alumni sacred cows? No....it will be the English or Dance program or some other "disposable" departments. And the board will stay.
20
Eliminating scholarships for minorities helps who?
Good news, BUT I have to wonder if the complainants and/or Michigan State University also reported the allegations to the Michigan Board of Medicine at the same time, which would have cut to the chase, since Dr. Nassar presumably was licensed to practice medicine. The Board is quick to perform due diligence on such complaints, which would have probably removed Dr. Nassar from his "practice" more directly than the events which actually ensued.
6
I think if you do the math Michigan State’s settlement is less per victim than Penn State. According to the most current financials it appears there is enough in non-restricted funds to cover the settlement. I am not sure people outside the state of Michigan really understand the size of MSU. Tuition and fees alone account for 1 billion in revenue not to mention an endowment in the billions of which not all is directed. I highly doubt they need “to raise” tuition to cover this or eliminate programs or cut sports teams or roll back faculty salaries or any of the crazy things that get posted. And 42,000 students will continue their educations. I agree that for a public institution it is a lot of money that could have been used in more socially positive manner than payouts to lawyers.
6
If half a billion dollars is the price of atonement for unwanted touching, there’s not enough money in the world to make the real sins of this world go away. Lawyers better start thinking about Plan B.
That money will come from somewhere. The Times should report on how the settlement is funded and the impact of the cost.
5
The Wall Street Journal discusses possible financing in more depth.
That money better be coming from the endowment, not state and federal tax dollars. I live a mile and a half from the campus. The trustees and the former president care about fundraising. Students not so much. Let the trustees lose that money from their precious endowment.
20
Good lucking raiding any university's endowment funds for anything but the purpose for which they were specified; and I doubt that paying off a sex abuse lawsuit is a specified use of the funds. On the other hand, you can always shop around and find some judge who will rewrite the endowment contract because they think it is the right thing to do.
2
Some students do care about fundraising. It's what makes their tuition more affordable.
1
I hope the Trustees' dollar amount covers a true compensation to the victims and not just the lawyers. I also hope they engrave in stone in front of the main hall on campus an oath to all generations that the university WILL NEVER EVER IGNORE the cries of victims. Penn State should erect the same oath in stone, as well as Emory University, and any others which have repeatedly repressed assault accusations from students and staff.
6
These young women deserve every dollar, and much more. But the entire MSU athletics program should be liquidated before one cent of this payout comes from increased tuition on students or cuts to academic programs.
51
Take away scholarships for women to right the wrongs of Mr. Nasser.? Not a good idea.
1
I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a guess.
Amount that will be paid by those responsible = $0
Amount that will be paid by future students = $500,000,000
American Justice in a nut shell.
It's just like the Wells Fargo settlement. All the money will go to lawyers and the government. NONE will go to the victims of fraud.
34
The cost of corrupt and incompetent management at the highest levels of this state university is very high, not only to its reputation, but to its operations. A half-billion dollars could be better spent on endowments and scholarships.
Sadly, Michigan, from the governor's office down to Michigan State's president, is setting new and lower standards of conduct of governmental and educational institutions.
9
I'm very happy for the victems since they will need money for the care they'll require to heal
I hope the each spend see of it on a service dog , my doberman is the best medicine for ptsd related anxieties and depression is impossible with one by your side.
I pray for everyone to heal.
7
It sounds like tuition might be going up at Michigan State. Half a billion dollars is a lot.
6
This settlement will certainly prevent schools from looking the other way when they entrust students to a monster. I am grieving for those students who were not protected by the school because it was the school’s moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to do so. I hope the students will reach some level of closure because they had to fight to stop this predator, when it should have been the school. Lesson learned by the school after being hit in the wallet. Shame on them!
7
What Larry Nassar took from those girls and young women can never be restored with money. They deserve something for the abuse they suffered, and money seems to be all that MSU can give them, but their childhood will have scars they carry throughout their lives.
Some of the complicit have lost their jobs, but again, that's only money. So far, the only one in prison for these crimes is Nassar.
3
Behind doors at MSU: "We'll find donors who will help us with this, it's the price you have to pay for success." If you think it's going to hurt them financially, think again.
What would hurt them? Shut down the top tier athletic programs. If that hurts other students, they can leave. Then they'd understand how something like this should hurt a lot, and how it affects the entire institution.
9
What/who is the source of settlement money? 500,000,000.00 wow. A lot of people could use this for an education!
11
me too. i was raped for 4 years, age 13 to 16. mom says silence. this rapist then got my sister, and years later, 2 of boys my 4 , also at age 13. silence. when he died, the city promoted him to police captain. pressure silence. my misery imploded, wreaking my body. all i have is my monthly disability. keep quiet says family. at least these women get money and not silence.
5
I'm so sorry. And yes, no more silence.
All of the leaders of Michigan state belong in jail- for their penance they can work on a chain gang replacing pipe in flint- until the job is done
18
Irony. I ha
What a joke of a settlement for years of abuse and cover up.
Well, at least he can say he was the highest paid doctor of all-time.
Is anyone investing how much Louanna Simon knew of these criminal act of both Nasser and the osteopathic dean?
1
Like Sgt. Schultz on "Hogan's Heros," she "knew nothing." Because, IMHO, she was R.O.A.D. -- retired on active duty. Like so many long-timers in "public service." She was serving on outside boards. Letting others do her job.
Grim.
Let this become a wake up call to public and private institutions to toss perverted, dead wood overboard before it rots from within. As soon as possible these types of deviants must be gone. Ignore it and pay the price. This entire scandal is so disgusting and sickening. They got off cheap.
5
Worst reported story ever. The Defendant is in jail for the rest of his life, money damages will be paid without a trial. And people are still upset. The media and that overhyped hearing led people to believe the World was about to change. Are people disappointed there will be no crucifixtion, no burning, no dismemberment? What did they want John Engler to do? Throw himself off a building? And he didn’t have anything to do with the crime.
4
People are upset because the administration didn't do anything about this when there were several reports about the same doctor over many years. I think the settlement and jailtime are great for providing some compensation to the women (though obviously nothing can make up for what they went through) and punishing the man responsible, but I think there hasn't been enough responsibility shouldered by MSU and the Olympic committee for allowing Nassar to continue to see patients without oversight or intervention when they had repeated reports of inappropriate behavior.
What I want to see above all is for the people that should have caught this much earlier to come out and say why they didn't and put new measures in place to make sure this never happens ever again. Had they further investigated the first report they filed against him, hundreds of these women wouldn't have been sexually abused.
1
I have to admit, I did not follow the details of this apparently sordid episode in detail, but I wonder what specific kinds of abuse exactly the women suffered, why they then willingly subjected to it repeatedly and why this took 332 cases of apparently multiple incidents, so probably thousands until the shoe finally dropped.
Did the women consider the questionable procedures to be "normal", and did they only begin to look at them as abuse after an apparently extended period of time? How much of their obvious suffering is actually caused by societal norms that were violated which they may not have seen as such at the time? I.e. how much of the suffering is actually caused now by a society publicly shaming them by dragging them through the limelight vs. what they themselves actually experienced?
I am not trying to minimize deviant behavior by a pervert, if that is what happened, I merely would like to know why none of the women apparently didn't even think about kicking him in the groin while he was trying to do his funny business.
5
Why not read up on a case before you comment? This story has been extensively covered, and none of Nassar's abuses have ever been considered "normal" behavior. Many of the victims reported the doctor, and were disbelieved by police, university officials and their own parents. These authority figures are the ones who chose to look the other way when help was needed, yet you're holding children (as young as 6) responsible for stopping an adult abuser?
1
I always find it intriguing when someone has a bunch of opinions about something they paid no attention to, but you're right. It is sordid. And long. And extraordinarily painful. Perhaps you might try googling it instead of asking people to regurgitate what was in the news over a very lengthy process. Oh, by the way. They were innocent little girls at the time, not women. Maybe this will help you. I mean, there's always hope.
https://www.sbnation.com/2018/1/19/16900674/larry-nassar-abuse-timeline-...
The trouble with timelines is that one misses a lot of the details and nuances.
I get where you're coming from and basically the young women were usually either too young to really understand what was happening wasn't the "medical treatment" Nassar said it was and/or didn't have a real choice of going to see him or not. Many of the women were young and had gotten his "treatment" for years and it started when they were naive and didn't necessarily know the difference between a legitimate medical exam and inappropriate touching.
A lot of women also had no other choice than to see him. For the gymnasts, they either go to their appointments with him or are kicked off the team, which is a dream they've worked for their entire lives. I don't know specifically for MSU, but I imagine there were similar reasons.
When people complained, which many did, they were ignored or silenced or told the committee/MSU would look into it, but no steps were taken to ensure he wouldn't do it again or take criminal measures. This was something people in MSU and the committee knew about for YEARS before doing anything because many young women DID complain--that should be the takeaway.
1
This misses that a portion of the funds, $75m of the $500m will be held in the event there are additional lawsuits from survivors abused by Nassar. (https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/2018/05/16/larry-na...
2
After legal fees, likely less than $1 million per victim. I'd say Michigan State got off lightly.
16
I am an alumni of MSU who has been giving money to the school over the last several years. I always request that the money goes towards scholarships. How do I know that some of my money won't be going toward this settlement, or less money will go towards scholarships in general to pay off this settlement? Yes, Larry Nassar in going to prison for the rest of his life, which is where he should be. But what about his houses, cars, and other assets? Shouldn't they be sold off to help pay for the settlement? What about any pension money? I'm sorry if his family will lose out, but I'm more sorry for future students who will lose out on needed scholarships because of what this horrid man did.
46
Nassar's assets will no doubt be sold off to pay whatever judgments or settlements he ends up personally responsible for. That will be completely separate from MSU's institutional liability for its role in this disaster.
2
Money is fungible. Effectively, some of your money is indeed going towards providing these women some restitution. I suspect Larry Nassar's assets will all be sold but his net worth is likely far, far less than $500M.
3
Universities actually have that much money sitting around?
13
No, but they do have bonding authority. Bet this is how MSU gets all that dinero to hand out.
3
Probably not. But Michigan taxpayers do.
4
Well, yes. In their endowment. Just saying.
1
The costliest most expensive hire in educations history.
7
Maybe not the costliest (Penn State), but definitely at the top of the list.
So many other commenters don't seem to understand that the point of these judgements are not to give the victims money in the hope that it will fix their lives or help them forget what happened to them. The point of this judgement is to announce to every other school that you will not get away with looking the other way when one of your employees is abusing athletes/students/children.
96
"The point of this judgement is to announce to every other school that you will not get away with looking the other way when one of your employees is abusing athletes/students/children."
Actually it looks to me as if they have got away with it. Who has put his hand in his or her pocket and pulled out the $500 mill? Taxpayers, alumni donors and students who will go without scholarships and facilities, are paying this. If it comes out of insurance, then you and I are paying this.
5
" .. The point of this judgement is to announce to every other school that you will not get away with looking the other way .."
You must be joking. What about "Congressional pioneers" with 54 years on the taxpayer dime, age 87, who is finally forced out after 3+ lawsuits for sexual harassment?
Deadwood incumbency and deadwood bureaucracy are behind these very costly messes.
And social media can help prevent this, in the future. Just ask Al Franken.
1
baloney. the point is those culpable got a free pasd on taxpayer $$. a deterent would be to send all of them to jail.
wake up.
1
The administrators who ignored/concealed this should be forced to pay as much of this judgment as they possibly can. That would send a message to others in their situation.
31
As a citizen of Michigan, I am appalled. MSU is business as usual. $500m sounds like a lot, but isn't. There is a lot more disinfecting that needs to be done there. And don't look to the state to foot the bill. I'm still paying my governor's criminal attorneys for the Flint debacle.
36
How many worthy kids could have gotten an education with this money. How many doctors could have been trained. How many social workers to help struggling kids. How many teachers. How many engineers, scientists. How many? The entire University Board should be out on their ear and made to reimburse the University out of their personal funds.
100
"“Michigan State is pleased that we have been able to agree in principle on a settlement that is fair to the survivors of Nassar’s crimes,” said Robert Young, a lawyer for the university. "
Is the university accepting responsibility of the actions that occurred and the lack of oversight? I did not see a mention of that in the article. Is this "go-away, leave me alone" money they are giving out to the victims?
4
“I think that it’s a step toward healing for myself and all of the brave survivors who have told their truth,” Ms. Thomashow said.
I understand how this settlement will be significant deterrent to other entities going forward. How does the financial penalty provide a "step toward healing" Ms. Thomashow? What monetary payment could possibly "heal" someone? And did the survivors tell "their" truth or "the" truth?
Oh, come on. Wrongdoers paying victims goes back to the Bible and before. Part of the "healing" is the public recognition and acceptance that in fact great harm was done, and who did what to whom. "Their" truth obviously refers to the well-known fact that when sexual abuse victims come forward to accuse their attackers they are routinely disbelieved and shamed. It's hard to believe you don't know this. What silly, grumpy quibbles.
3
Monetary payments help pay for therapy and psychiatric help since this is rarely covered by health insurance.
1
This is a substantial settlement - fully justified in my opinion.
That said, MSU is a public university. Where the money comes from, precisely, matters quite a bit, and the University trustees will play games with this if given the chance. No current or future student should have to pay more in tuition.
22
This settlement is about a billion dollars short if they really wanted to send message. The University knew for over a decade of these actions and Dr Nassar's supervisor did nothing about it. The message here is that they can buy their way out of this scandal and move on. Unless the agreement includes specific institutional changes to prevent abuse from happening again, the monetary penalty should be much higher so the administration is constantly reminded of what could happen if they don't do their jobs.
35
Message to whom? "The University" is owned by the people of Michigan. Possibly the University has liability insurance but I suspect the taxpayers of Michigan will pay much of the settlement. The individuals who enabled Dr. Nassar need to be held responsible for as much of the settlement cost as is reasonable.
8
It will send a message for sure — their annual budget is $1.36B according to their website. But I agree, $1.5B would have been a better message.
1
I guess it's time to raise tuition slime balls...
10
This is a travesty of justice. $1.5mm per gymnast for years of abuse?
11
Actually $1.31 each - the settlement for the 332 plaintiffs is $425 million, with $75 million set aside for future lawsuits.
Oops, $500 Mil / 300, still not enough to penalized the Enablers once the lawyers grab it.
if there's 300 ladies, that's about $16k, and it does not include layers fees. Sadly, $zip$ in the scheme of the things.
Michigan Stare is a public university.
Where does the $500 mm come from?
95
Football money, I would imagine. But I agree, will the innocent students pay in tuition hikes?
13
You can bet that it will be the students who will pay for this is tuition hikes.
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Answer: Insurance that covers liability and negligence and / or tax payer money that supports the university?
Regardless of the bucket that the settlement is paid from, that ultimate bucket is a state university (or insurance the university purchased to cover such liabilities). Hence, it is taxpayer's assets that are being redirected to the victims. Of course, the victims are owed $ for the years of abuse they suffered from. The public who supports the university has become an unwitting and unwilling accomplice.
Small consolation...money is not adequate to cover the abuse the victims suffered.
Why aren't the administrators, managers, and anyone & everyone who were connected in the audit trail to Nassar being penalized, too? I suspect there are no "innocents" but only people with varying levels of liability. A tragedy on so many levels.
10
Let the funds for this settlement be paid by the athletic department, which has proximate responsibility, rather than from academics. So MSU has to drop some sports, or cut back on athletic “scholarships,” that’s a price they ought to have to pay.
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There is no way to separate academic and athletic departments. It will be the students who will pay for this through their tuition and debt.
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Sure. But the Athletic Dept. basically subsidizes everyone else's tuition. Do you still want to separate athletics?
1
Yes there is. The Purdue Athletic department uses no academic funds or tax money. It operates solely on revenues and donations. One of the few. That is why it has so few sports. For example, no men’s gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, rowing etc. Same on women’s side. No field hockey, rowing, gymnastics, lacrosse etc.
The man is despicable and will deserve the loving treatment will receive while incarcerated.
Thankfully the me too movement is empowering women and in this case young girls to speak out and report these heinous crimes.
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I always wonder why some hope that prisoners (who most everyone despises) will punish these perps in ways that society doesn't. These other prisoners are felons in their own right. Why do we expect or hope they will act for us?
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The family of one of the "survivors" lives next door. She deserves treatment.
And IMHO, her trial lawyer does not deserve a Ferrari for a couple weeks of work.
This proposed settlement is a mean-average of $1.24 million/plaintiff. That is a giant amount of money. MSU will be financially weakened for 7+ years.
Before a dime goes to the trial lawyers for distribution to the plaintiffs, the math behind this has to be publicly reviewed, in the light of day. Not behind closed doors.
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The survivors will be weakened for the rest of their lives. The math is not difficult and the damages per survivor is a paltry amount compared with their suffering and lifelong damage. If this had gone to trial, a jury would have paid out 10 times as much, so this settlement is a small price to pay for MSU.
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Bing Bing, you are too sensible. America is a country that believes in big payments as "compensation" and leaves its bridges and other infrastructure in a rather dismal state. What most angry readers do not realize is that when you impose a big penalty because of something bad that Larry did, and Larry does not have the money, then the students who have done nothing wrong will pay in the form of higher tuition and/or worse education. But the angry readers will be happy because "justice has been served."
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" ..The survivors will be weakened for the rest of their lives .."
Madam, our suburb has many professionals whose families' properties were stolen by Communist mobs at gunpoint, and they had to flee for their lives. IMHO, y'all have no idea what serious "damages" are.
Pay 10 times as much? Sure .. then 25 years of appeals. Res ipsa, trial lawyers.
Some of the "sister survivors" have said "this isn't about money." Uh .. yes, it is, just ask your trial lawyers. They're not working for free. Really. Not kidding.
Please consider this comment as a formal request to the NY Times to jettison the use of the word 'victim' in relation to sexual assault or sexual abuse. 'Survivor' is a much better term.
Words do have power. Using 'survivor' instead of 'victim' reframes the discussion.
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I don't know about this. "Victim" relates to the fact that a crime was committed. People "survive" disease, illness, poverty, etc.
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Wrong: they were all victims of a predator, but fortunately they all also continued living - and are thus survivors.
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A small step in the healing process for these girls/women. I hope the lawyers didn't take their usual 33%.
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@mark
The lawyers, individually, are getting a lot more than any of the gymnasts individually. Pretty remarkable.
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And what if they do? How much did you do, Mark, to get the settlement?
Do you actually believe the lawyers deserve this amount of money?
Universities are rich, very rich. Wonder where the $500 million (half a billion) is coming from? Is it the liability insurance that the University had? Is it the endowment? Is it the revenue from student fees? Is it donations? Anyway the victims deserved to get a fair settlement.
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If you have a problem with the settlement, blame the victims. It’s their choice. They apparently didn’t want a trial, so call them.
It will be the students who will have to pay for this, as they will be getting less for their tuition $$ and they will have to pay more $$ in tuition.
Well done! The ones who have won the most are the lawyers, as always.
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Very few universities carry $500 mm in liability insurance.
“Intentional Acts” are excluded from liability insurance.
But MSU does have a $3 BB endowment.
So, let me get this straight: $1.5+ million each to 332 victims is supposed to wash away the foul memories of a monster who manhandled and abused them?
Does evil have a price? Justice apparently, does. Innocence and trust—once taken, especially by someone trusted—can never be returned.
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Years of therapy will not be free. They'll probably have trouble getting life insurance due to a high risk profile, so they'll pay more for that all their lives if they can get it at all. It's going to cost money to buy privacy too, at times in their lives when they don't want to be in the media/public eye.
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I do not see where it is supposed to wash anything away - if this does not have a price - the alternative is nothing?
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"Years of therapy will not be free .."
Gosh, yes, why don't their trial lawyers cut their fees, and donate them back to the plaintiffs, and ..
Oh. That rarely happens?
Never mind ..
I certainly sympathize with the women who were abused, but $500 million could fund a lot of scholarships, new classrooms and laboratories.
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Do you think the university/state would have actively spent $500 million in the near future on scholarships/classrooms, etc. if the settlement (or crimes) had not taken place? I think most of the $500 million would be sitting in the banks.
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All those could-be-funded scholarships, new classrooms, and laboratories mean nothing if such abuse continues. Penalize the institutions that allow such treatment of women to continue and watch what happens. Money talks. Some people feel more pain if they're hit in the wallet instead of their heart. Besides, those survivors don't want your sympathy. I doubt they'd want to hear your opinions either, but I care enough to read your single sentence, and I wonder if you'd say the same thing if the survivors were men. Are you a Sandusky fan?
I apologize in advance. My response isn't meant to hurt or belittle. I only want to understand how you seem to care more about money than the women who suffered. You can always send a contribution to the school though.
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"but $500 million could fund a lot of scholarships, new classrooms and laboratories."
But that would be "un-American!"
We love punishment more than we love education.
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What a tragedy this case is. Hopefully the money will go to the victims, and not to their lawyers.
Michigan State is a state university. So, that's $500,000,000 less Michigan will have to spend on say, fixing the water system in Flint.
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MSU had a $3 billion endowment as of last year. I would be surprised if the Michigan taxpayers had to foot this bill.
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It seems to always be about money, which punishes, yes. But what victims really would like would be a sincere apology from the
University and some concrete and measurable changes in policies and oversight to prevent this kind of abuse in the future. What never seems to be talked about enough is that the perpetrator gets away with it, or gets caught, pays his debt to society and moves on. For the abused, whether boy or girl, man or woman, but especially the children, it changes their lives forever, how they perceive themselves and others. They can get through the ordeal, but they never completely escape the fear, the horror and the thought that it is somehow their fault.
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Nasser will have a hard time “moving on” since, given the length of his sentence, he will likely die in prison.
Given prison conditions, he will have a hard time moving at all.
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An apology? How many apologies can their be? Really? Thats what the survivors want is an apology? You can’t be serious.
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Justice may have been served. But the practice of paying victims money beyond recouping actual financial losses in crimes is wrong in general, especially when the money will not be recouped from the actual perpetrators. Instead, real social consequences must be enforced on perpetrators and their enablers, and any related financial penalty should be paid into a government fund for programs that help prevent future crimes. Victims need justice and genuine social help. But direct financial compensation not only perversely trivialises victims' real pain, but is also ineffective on deterring rich perpetrators, as well as invites frivolous lawsuits. The American penchant for putting a price on anything is just wrong on so many levels. I do not believe the girls in this case feel their pain has now been appropriately compensated. Rather, I fear that many people will now falsely feel that the underlying problem has now been satisfactorily addressed.
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Re “Direct compensation trivializes victim’s real pain”, our court system provides for damages to the victims. How this “trivializes” the victims’ pain is beyond me. To the extent that nothing can completely compensate these women, you are so right. That is the point of payment, it’s all there is. As to deterrence, schools will think long and hard before they allow a pervert years of access to victims. That it may not deter every single psycho out there is not the issue.
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"the practice of paying victims money beyond recouping actual financial losses in crimes is wrong in general"
So in this case, since the victims incurred no "actual financial loss," you believe they should not get any money from actors like MSU, which clearly bear responsibility, and have money?
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Michigan State is an "actual perpetrator," if not of sexual abuse as such then of gross negligence and of being (your word) an "enabler," institutionally. "Putting a price" on the damages of crime is not an "American penchant"; it goes back to the Bible and other ancient systems of law
Why don't you ask the young women in this case what kind of satisfaction they derive from this settlement? I think being materially rewarded for the courage to come forward and confront your attacker could feel pretty empowering for a lot of them. I certainly hope so.
7