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Dr. George Tyndall. Photo courtesy of CNN.
Summary: The University of Southern California faces several lawsuits because of the alleged sexual misconduct of its staff doctor, George Tyndall.
About 200 professors signed a letter demanding the resignation of USC President C. L. Max Nikias. The faculty claim that Nikias lacks moral authority after it was discovered the university let a male gynecologist continue practice despite numerous reports of misconduct.
The doctor, Dr. George Tyndall, worked at the University of Southern California’s student health clinic for 30 years. Over 300 patients said that he made crude remarks, groped women under the guise of a medical exam, and took inappropriate nude photographs, according to the civil lawsuits filed this week.
One plaintiff, Daniella Mohazab, was a USC graduate student who said that Dr. Tyndall told her that “Filipinas are good in bed” when she saw him in 2016 for a STD test. She filed a civil suit this week through her attorney, Gloria Allred, and at a press conference, she said that Tyndall did not use gloves when he gave her a pelvic exam.
“I am still in shock that USC had heard about Dr. Tyndall’s inappropriate conduct and allowed him to continue practicing,” Mohazab said.
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“He made me feel extremely uncomfortable and violated. Dr. Tyndall told me to undress from the bottom down, and he stood there watching while I did so,” Mohazab explained.
At this week’s press conference, Allred said that another student complained to USC in the early 1990s but the doctor was still allowed to see female patients.
“Assuming these allegations made by witness Jane Doe are true, USC was told as early as 1991 about Dr. Tyndall’s sexual misconduct,” Allred said.
Dr. Tyndall denied the wrongdoing, and the head of the Board of Trustees John Mork said that he and the executives supported President Nikias.
On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees said they would “conduct an independent investigation into the misconduct and reporting failures that occurred.”
According to Time, at least seven women have filed lawsuits against USC because of Tyndall’s alleged misconduct. They accuse the school of failing to properly respond to the complaints against him.
Tyndall was fired in 2017 for misconduct, but USC did not report him to law enforcement or state licensing authorities at the time, according to CNN. The doctor later asked for his job back, and it was then that USC reported him to the state.
The state said that they cannot comment on pending cases.
The Los Angeles police department said that there were no formal investigations pending about the doctor before this story broke, but that they plan to probe the allegations, similar to the case of accused rapist Harvey Weinstein.
Dr. Tyndall’s direct supervisor and another supervisor at the health center have been removed, according to Todd R. Dickey, USC’s senior vice president for administration.
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