Michigan State University on Wednesday agreed to pay $500 million to settle claims by sexual assault victims of sports doctor Lawrence G. Nassar. But if there's one consolation to the horrific case, it's this: A message is being sent, loud and clear.

Right?

John Manly of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, who represents many of the victims, said as much to The New York Times. “It is the sincere hope of all of the survivors that the legacy of this settlement will be far-reaching institutional reform that will end the threat of sexual assault in sports, schools and throughout our society.”

So here's my question: What in the world is USC thinking?

Seriously. How do the people who run the University of Southern California not get it?

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times published an in-depth investigative report on Dr. George Tyndall, who for nearly 30 years was the only full-time gynecologist at USC's health care clinic.

“The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students' genitals,” according to the story. “In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of 'creepy' behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies.”

Keep in mind that many of his patients were 18, 19, 20, and had never been to an ob-gyn before. They didn't know what was normal or what to expect.

The details of his exams are, for lack of a better word, icky (“He would put one finger in and say, 'Oh, I think it will fit. Let's put two fingers in,'” said a chaperone who worked with Tyndall for years. Four people familiar with Tyndall's exams said that while he spoke, he was moving his fingers in and out of the patients.”)

Tell me there's not a very large lawsuit in USC's future. Especially when you consider how the school handled the complaints.

After years of allegedly ignoring the information, top administrators in 2016 let the doctor “resign quietly with a financial payout,” according to the story.

That's right, they paid him.

Per the Times, USC “did not inform Tyndall's patients. Nor did USC report him at the time to the Medical Board of California, the agency responsible for protecting the public from problem doctors.”

Penn State has paid out more than $100 million to settle claims related to abuse by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. At Michigan State, it's now $500 million for Dr. Nassar.

I wonder what it's going to cost USC? And just how much more it will take for other schools to get the message.

 

What's the Opposite of Litigator of the Week?

A nasty video went viral on Wednesday showing a man in a midtown Manhattan restaurant having a tantrum because two employees were speaking Spanish.

“Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English….It's America,” the man said to the manager of Fresh Kitchen in Midtown. “And my guess is that they're not documented so my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off of my money—I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here.”

The man has been identified by publications including The New York Daily News as business and commercial litigator Aaron Schlossberg, who runs the two-lawyer Law Offices of Aaron Schlossberg.

I couldn't independently verify it was Schlossberg in the video (though it looks like him based on his law firm photo), and he did not return a call seeking comment. He's apparently not talking to other publications either.

If it isn't Schlossberg in the video, he's making a terrible blunder by not correcting the record immediately. And if it is him, well, the internet is getting its revenge.

His firm had more than 1,100 Yelp reviews by Wednesday evening, virtually all one star, including a few that reviewed him as a Mexican restaurant. Another post includes his New York Bar registration number and the disciplinary committee's contact information. Yelp users also added images to his profile including a pig, a pile of garbage and a bottle of douche.

(Yelp has an alert on his page stating that “This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news.”)

His public Facebook page has been hit hard too. “If you are in the market for a lawyer who is openly racist in one of the most diverse cities in the world, are you in luck!” is one of the more polite messages.

Another commenter observed that Schlossberg, who got his JD from GW Law School in 2002, “showed his true colors and was caught on camera, and shall now be forever haunted by the power of the internet.”

I suspect that may be true—and it's a good reminder. In the era of cell phone videos and twitter, all it takes is one (thoroughly unpleasant) lunchtime rant to ruin your career.

 

What I'm Reading

Judge Tosses Ex-Big Law Attorneys' Fraud Suit Against Boutique

Caveat laterals: Two lawyers said a boutique induced them to join based on false promises and then wrongly obtained more than $700,000 in profits from their legal work.

Federal Circuit Still Fine-Tuning Venue Following 'TC Heartland'

Next week marks the one-year anniversary of the decision. Time flies when you're fighting over venues for patent litigation.

Tempers Flare at Russia Hearing Over Prosecutor, Defense Phone Call

Standing across a desk from prosecutor Jeannie Rhee, a visibly upset Eric Dubelier of Reed Smith described her account of the events as “bullshit.”

Planned Parenthood Gets Win at Ninth Circuit In Case Over Anti-Abortion Videos

“These are defendants who lied and broke the law in order to spread malicious lies against Planned Parenthood,” said Arnold & Porter's Amy Bomse. “We're looking forward to having our case proceed to trial.”

Anthem Data Breach Attorney Fees Report Faulted by Plaintiffs Lawyers and Objector

A whopping 53 firms requested fees—not exactly the lean leadership team that the judge had asked for.

Judge Names 39-Member Plaintiffs Team to Lead iPhone Throttling MDL

Meanwhile, Judge Edward Davila signs off on a coalition approach in suits against Apple. Let the fee fights begin!

Justices in Pennsylvania Weigh Waiver in Wrongful Death Case Over Drowned Triathlete

Her husband, who drowned during the Philadelphia Triathlon's half-mile swim, signed a waiver—but can his widow still sue for wrongful death?