As reported by The Michigan Daily, plaintiffs’ counsel in the ongoing class action lawsuit against the University of Michigan for its handling of allegations of sexual abuse against late former doctor and athletics program physician Robert Anderson have filed a response to the University’s motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Though numerous individual lawsuits representing single plaintiffs have been filed in federal court, the class action suit (filed by Lieff Cabraser and co-counsel) seeks to hold the University accountable for all of the students abused by Anderson and the environment around him that the University condoned for decades, even those victims who are too scared or injured to come forward.
While the plaintiff UM junior Josephine Graham has made it clear that she and other women don’t need to experience sexual violence first-hand to suffer real and ongoing harm, in its motion to dismiss the complaint, the University argued that Graham simply had “to wait until she has experienced sexual violence before bringing her [lawsuit].” As plaintiffs’ noted in their response to the attempt to dismiss the case, “In a dizzying catch-22, UM also appears to argue that if she had already suffered sexual abuse, that would preclude her having standing as well.”
“U-M argues that no one—not former students, not current students, not this Court—has standing or authority to hold it accountable,” the response continues. “That is not the law.”
In addition, the response criticized the University’s recent attempts at reform, noting that “U-M has not been transparent to the University community and public about the scope and nature of the reforms they claim to have implemented, and offers no showing that they have made the type of best-practice policy and enforcement overhauls that Graham seeks.”
Learn more about the student athlete sexual abuse class action against the University of Michigan / Dr. Robert Anderson.
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