The agreement will provide compensation ranging from $2,500 up to $250,000 to the women who have claimed abuse by Dr. George Tyndall between 1988 and 2016, USC Interim President Wanda Austin said in a statement.
About 500 current and former students have now made accusations against Tyndall. They contend he routinely made crude comments, took inappropriate photos, forced them to strip naked and groped them under the guise of medical treatment.
Tyndall spent about three decades as a USC staff gynecologist before retiring last year after a university investigation concluded there was evidence that Tyndall sexually harassed students during exams.
Tyndall has denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime. USC has denied accusations of a cover-up.
The university was first criticized in the case after the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year that complaints and comments about Tyndall’s care went unheeded by the school for decades and that USC failed to report him to the medical board even after the school quietly forced him into retirement.
Two administrators were fired and President C.L. Max Nikias stepped down following the criticism.
The Los Angeles police and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office are reviewing allegations against Tyndall.
Austin said in a statement that since she became interim university president, “a fair and respectful resolution for as many former patients as possible has been?a priority for the university and for me personally.”
“Many sweeping changes have been made and we continue to?work every day to prevent all forms of misconduct on our campuses, to provide outstanding care to all students, and to ensure we have policies and procedures that prioritize respect for our students and our entire university community,” she said.
On Thursday, 93 women who say Tyndall abused or harassed them announced a lawsuit against the university, saying it ignored decades of complaints.
“I am part of an accidental sisterhood of hundreds of women because the university we love betrayed our trust,” said Dana Loewy, who said Tyndall assaulted her during an exam in 1993.
Two women said they called USC’s hotline to report complaints against Tyndall but received no follow-up.
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Associated Press Writer John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
