US Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman are sworn in to testify during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington September 15, 2021. — Reuters pic
WASHINGTON, Dec 14 — Victims of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar have reached a US$380 million (RM1.6 billion) settlement with USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and their insurers after a five-year legal battle, an attorney for some of his victims said on Monday.
As part of the settlement, USA Gymnastics (USAG) and the Olympic Committee also agreed to designate some of their board seats to survivors and to implement other new policies aimed at protecting athletes from future abuse.
To get those reforms in place, USOPC committed to allocating US$5 million, the lawyer said.
“This settlement is about the brave survivors who came forward, forced these organizations to listen, and demanded change,” Michelle Simpson Tuegel, who represents over two dozen Nassar survivors, said in a joint statement with Tasha Schwikert Moser, co-chair of the Survivors Creditors Committee.
“Through this agreement, these survivors are finally being acknowledged and USAG and USOPC are being forced to change so that this sport can begin a new chapter,” they said.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Monday that the settlement will cover claims brought by Olympic gold medalists including Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, all of whom are among Nassar’s most high-profile victims of sexual abuse.
All three women testified about the abuse they suffered during a Senate hearing this year. At the hearing, they blasted USA Gymnastics and Olympic officials for failing to stop Nassar, and they took the FBI to task over its botched investigation into Nassar’s actions.
Nassar, who had been the main doctor for Olympic gymnasts for 18 years, was sentenced in federal court in 2017 to 60 years in prison on charges of possessing child sex abuse material.
The following year, he was also sentenced to up to 175 years and up to 125 years, respectively, in two separate Michigan courts for molesting female gymnasts under his care.
The settlement was reached after TIG Insurance agreed to pay a large portion of the money, the Wall Street Journal reported.
USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in 2018, after Olympic bronze medalist Jamie Dantzscher had filed a lawsuit and additional claims were filed on behalf of a growing number of Nassar’s victims. — Reuters