‘Shocking and reprehensible’: federal regulators slam USC handling of sex abuse allegations

The U.S. Department of Education pm Thursday ordered USC to make major changes in how it handles sexual harassment cases and to submit to three years of federal monitoring, saying the university failed to protect students from a campus gynecologist accused of abusing hundreds of patients.

“What we have found at USC is shocking and reprehensible,” the department’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kenneth L. Marcus said in a statement. “No student should ever have to face the disgusting behavior that USC students had to deal with.”

The sanctions stem from USC’s handling of complaints about Dr. George Tyndall, the sole full-time gynecologist at the student health clinic for 27 years. Tyndall, as The Times revealed two years ago, was the subject of multiple complaints from patients and colleagues over the decades, including reports that he photographed women’s genitals, performed improper pelvic and breast exams and made suggestive comments during medical exams. USC allowed Tyndall to continue practicing and ultimately to leave the university in 2016 with a financial payout and a clean record with the state medical board.

In a 51-page letter to USC President Carol Folt, an Education Department official said investigators had uncovered numerous instances where the university failed to take action against Tyndall.

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