Trial Magazine

In January, after pleading guilty to criminal sexual conduct, Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University (MSU) team doctor, awaited sentencing for sexually abusing female athletes and students. At his sentencing hearing in Michigan, more than 150 of the hundreds of women he abused confronted him individually for assaulting them while claiming to be providing medical treatment. Although these women have been applauded for helping to bring Nassar to justice and exposing the institutions that protected him by dismissing reports of his abusive conduct, the reaction was very different when they first spoke out.

“The first gymnast I spoke with was Jamie Dantzscher, a bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, who reached out to me in the summer of 2016,” said Irvine, Calif., attorney John Manly, who represents hundreds of the survivors. “She told me about Nassar, and I called several doctors and described what he was doing, and they all said, ‘That’s sexual assault.’ We filed her case that year as a Jane Doe, but she was immediately outed on social media. Nassar supporters and others attacked her personally and publicly, calling her vicious slurs and claiming that she had made everything up for attention. All of this happened, yet she refused to stop.”

As other women revealed that Nassar had abused them, lawsuits mounted against USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and MSU in California and Michigan. Manly and his team alleged that these powerful institutions had failed to protect these women from Nassar, despite knowing for decades that he was a sexual abuser. Although California had adopted legislation in 2002 to lengthen its statute of limitations in civil sexual abuse cases, most of the Michigan lawsuits would have been barred under the state’s strict statute of limitations, which generally required survivors of childhood abuse to file civil suits by their nineteenth birthday.

"The institutions that protect child molesters have long relied on statute of limitations restrictions to escape justice."

“The institutions that protect child molesters have long relied on statute of limitations restrictions to escape justice because they know that a victim of molestation almost never reports the incident when it happens,” said Manly. “That was the situation in Michigan as we fought to hold MSU accountable. I think MSU initially believed that it would be able to avoid liability. And once again, these women faced horrible abuse—including by MSU leaders—for speaking out. The environment was incredibly hostile, and the school’s reaction was particularly painful for the alums.”

Instead of giving up, in 2017, the women began speaking with Michigan state legislators to advocate for statute of limitations reform and to explain how they and other survivors deserved their day in court. The Michigan House and Senate started debating and drafting legislation in response, and as Manly described, once the new law was pending, the defendant’s stance changed. In May, MSU agreed to settle for $500 million—$425 million to be paid to the 332 survivors who had initially come forward and $75 million to be set aside for others abused by Nassar who came forward by September.

“I give a tremendous amount of credit for the settlement to these women, particularly Rachael Denhollander, who was the first public reporter, and Sterling Riethman, who was at almost every legislative hearing and was a tremendous advocate,” Manly said. “Sometimes a client hires you to represent him or her, and then you’re just out there working alone. But the reason this case against MSU was successful is that these women were deeply engaged from the beginning, fighting for themselves and to protect thousands of little girls they’d never meet but knew existed.”

In June, Michigan’s lieutenant governor signed into law a bipartisan bill that allows victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue until their twenty-eighth birthday or within three years of when they discover the abuse. Manly described this as an important step but noted that more needs to be done to combat sexual abuse. “The culture of these organizations and their view of athletes as commodities needs to change completely. Holding institutions accountable for covering up criminal wrongdoing, such as the sexual abuse of a minor, is an issue that should generate general bipartisan support, and we need to find common ground to continue making progress.”

In August, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which regulates college athletics, cleared MSU’s athletic department of wrongdoing in its handling of the Nassar case, and Manly continues to litigate claims against USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

"These women fought against all odds to tell their stories, and the impact of bringing longstanding misconduct to light shouldn't be overlooked."

Nassar’s January sentencing was broadcast live on BBC radio—it was at that moment that Manly realized the impact of what these women had done. “When I realized that people everywhere were listening and learning the truth—that’s when I really understood their achievement. These women fought against the odds to tell their stories, and the impact of bringing longstanding misconduct to light shouldn’t be overlooked. This is a lesson to institutional defendants that if you think you can hide your wrongdoing and silence victims, you are very wrong.”

Mandy Brown is an associate editor and Kate Halloran is a senior associate editor, both of Trial magazine.