University of Southern California

Six women have sued the University of Southern California and the campus gynecologist for alleged sexual misconduct in the exam room that began more than two decades ago.

In three separate suits filed on Monday, including one class action, the women alleged that Dr. George Tyndall performed inappropriate procedures and made sexual remarks involving former female patients who were students at the college. The suits also claim that USC refused to remove the doctor despite multiple complaints from patients and staff at the campus clinic.

“For decades, USC has silenced the women who were violated in unspeakable ways by Dr. Tyndall, willfully ignoring the alarming complaints from nurses and patients as more and more students were sent into his office,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, who filed a class action against USC, Tyndall and the school's board of trustees. “It's abundantly clear to anyone that USC should have acted swiftly to put an end to Dr. Tyndall's inappropriate behavior, and an end to his license to practice, as soon as the school became aware in the 1990s.”

USC Provost Michael Quick said in a statement on Monday that he was “horrified” and “disgusted” about the claims about Tyndall.

“You have every right to be angry,” he wrote in a statement.

But he denied that USC leadership knew anything about the misbehavior or covered it up.

“It is true that our system failed, but it is important that you know that this claim of a cover-up is patently false,” he wrote. “We would never knowingly put students in harm's way.”

Plaintiffs in the suits claim that Tyndall used his fingers to penetrate their vaginas, ordered them to strip completely nude and groped their breasts. In earlier years, he also video-recorded exams. The suits also say school administrators refused to act on numerous complaints about the doctor that began in 2000 and that staff at the clinic, some of whom were in the exam rooms, said nothing about his behavior. The suits also claim that Tyndall targeted Chinese students and made inappropriate sexual comments.

The suits say USC suspended Tyndall in 2016 following an investigation by its Office of Equity and Diversity but also reached a financial settlement with him. USC also did not report the complaints to law enforcement or the state medical board.

The suits follow a Los Angeles Times expose last week that highlighted ongoing complaints about Tyndall that began in the 1990s.

In today's statement, Quick said there was no evidence that Tyndall had targeted Chinese students, and he defended USC's decision to reach a financial settlement with him.

“While it is difficult to accept, as settlements never sound appropriate, the reality is, given our size, structure, and due process policies, it is often the most expedient way to remove someone from the university,” he wrote.

The law firms behind the suits have experience in sexual harassment and abuse claims. Seattle's Hagens Berman, which filed its case in federal court in California's Central District on behalf of Lucy Chi, who claimed Tyndall fondled her breasts without a chaperone present in the exam room, also brought a class action against Harvey Weinstein last year.  The USC suit, which also named the school's board of trustees, represents a potential class of hundreds, “if not thousands,” of female students whom Tyndall may have treated.

“If handled individually, Dr. Tyndall's victims would face an incredibly difficult road, and we believe they collectively have a better opportunity with a class-action lawsuit,” Hagens Berman partner Elizabeth Fagan, in Chicago, wrote in an emailed statement. “If the #MeToo movement has taught us anything, it's that there is strength in numbers.”

Attorney John Manly brought a case in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of four women going by the name “Jane Doe.” His firm, Manly Stewart Finaldi in Irvine, California, was involved in the $500 million settlement last week over the former Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar, who allegedly molested more than 300 women and girls.

In a press release, Manly said more than 200 students had contacted a hotline at USC with complaints about Tyndall. The USC doctor's case had “disturbing similarities” to the Nassar case, he said.

“It is evident that USC ignored complaints about Dr. Tyndall's alleged systemic sexual misconduct under the guise of legitimate medical treatment for more than two decades and failed to report him to the authorities as required by law,” he said in a statement. “As a result, he had access to thousands of vulnerable young women who trusted USC to provide them with the most sensitive and intimate medical care and he has been allowed to continue practicing medicine in California.

David Ring of Taylor & Ring, who has handled numerous sexual abuse cases, filed the third lawsuit on behalf of “J.C.,” described as a 27-year-old law student at USC. At a 2015 exam, Tyndall told her to disrobe completely—then put his fingers in her vagina while remarking, “Oh, you are really tight. You must be a runner.”