Michigan seeks to dismiss ex-wrestler's sexual abuse lawsuit, says he waited to long to sue

ESPN
May 01, 2020

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/29125547/michigan-seeks-dismiss-ex-wrestler-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-says-waited-long-sue

DETROIT -- A former wrestler who claims he was sexually assaulted by a University of Michigan sports doctor waited too long to file a lawsuit, the school said Friday as it asked a judge to dismiss the case.

The university said it believes Dr. Robert Anderson assaulted athletes, and it wants to compensate victims. But it added that it's trying to avoid "drawn-out litigation'' while a law firm investigates what happened during Anderson's decades in Ann Arbor. He died in 2008.

"The university is committed to grappling with those findings, whatever they may be, to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again,'' attorneys said in a filing in U.S. District Court.

In his lawsuit, a man identified as John Doe MC-4 said he was molested by Anderson during exams approximately 16 times, from 1987 to 1991. Hundreds of others have said they too were assaulted, some as far back as the 1960s.

"The university has great sympathy for what plaintiff suffered,'' attorney Cheryl Bush said of Doe.

But in Doe's case, Bush noted that decades have passed since the last abuse, making the lawsuit untimely.

"The statutes of limitations and sovereign immunity prevent him from recovering damages in court. Plaintiff's complaint should be dismissed,'' she said.

Campus police began looking into Anderson in 2018 after a former athlete wrote to athletic director Warde Manuel about being sexually abused during medical exams in the early 1970s.

The university has acknowledged some employees were aware of accusations against Anderson before the 2018 complaint.

The university's president, Mark Schlissel, this week said he wanted to compensate people outside the court system. He was joined in a statement by Ron Weiser, chairman of the university's governing board, who has said he was molested by Anderson in the 1960s.

"It's disappointing to see the Regents trying to rely on the statute of limitations to dismiss these cases when university officials knowingly hid the truth from Anderson's victims for 30 years," attorneys John Manly and Mick Grewal said in a statement Friday night. "U of M's move is sadly predictable and should incentivize the legislature and governor to enact statute of limitation reform to allow all Anderson's survivors to have their day in court. It's also why we have declined to file lawsuits and are going through the required claims process in order to hopefully resolve the cases absent litigation."

Manly and Grewal are part of a group of lawyers who represent roughly 100 former alleged victims of Anderson. (They do not represent the claimant whom the university responded to in its request for dismissal.) Twenty of their clients filed a notice of intent in Michigan court last week, which is the first step in filing a claim against a public university in the state.

Roughly 40 lawsuits have been filed against the university and its regents by men who say they were sexually abused by Anderson. Hundreds of others have retained legal counsel and are exploring a number of different paths to try to find justice.

Some attorneys, including Colorado-based Parker Stinar, have said their clients are interested in trying to reach a resolution with the university, if possible, but are willing to file lawsuits if necessary.

"UM's attempt to dismiss victim's lawsuits is another attempt at silencing voices and denying transparency," Stinar said Friday night. "I believe UM's motion should be and will be denied, and UM will again let down its alumni, students and public with this attempt. My clients are disappointed in how the current administration has handled the decades of sexual abuse, institutional negligence and fraudulent concealment by UM."

Nearly 300 complaints about Anderson are being investigated by the WilmerHale law firm, university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said Friday.

The firm's report will be released to the public, Fitzgerald said.