Sacramento – Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D- San Bernardino) released the following statement regarding the announcement that the University of Southern California has agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion to former patients of campus gynecologist George Tyndall:
“In what began as a media investigation soon revealed a decade’s long pattern of sexual assault and harassment directed at hundreds of USC women who sought care at the campus health center. Even with mounting evidence of wrongdoing many survivors of Tyndall’s sexual assault would not have been able to seek justice for the harm they had suffered due to the limited timelines allowed under the law to bring forward a complaint. In 2019, I introduced AB 1510 which opened the window for survivors to come forward to seek justice for one additional year so that the hundreds of women abused by George Tyndall would have their voices heard. This was opening a door that would have been shut and in consequence would have denied these women justice and closure. Justice for victims should have no expiration date.
During the process of moving AB 1510 through the Legislature, I was able to meet with many survivors and hear firsthand their accounts of the awful trauma they had experienced. These young women through telling their stories also revealed their incredible courage, strength and perseverance to stand up for not only themselves, but all of those who faced sexual assault and harassment.
It is my sincere hope that this settlement brings closure to the survivors and serves as a lesson to others that justice and accountability may be delayed but it will not be denied.”