Seeking Justice New bills would improve legal pathways for U-M assault survivors. DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER T wo bills were intro- duced on the steps of the state capitol Sept. 22 that would make it easier for former University of Michigan students who have accused the school’ s former phy- sician Robert Anderson of sexual assault to sue the univer- sity. The bills are sponsored by Rep. Ryan Berman, R-Commerce Township, who is Jewish, and Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit. The bills were announced alongside three former U-M athletes who allege abuse by Anderson: former U-M football players Jon Vaughn and Dr. John Lott, and Tad DeLuca, a for- mer U-M wrestler. Berman, an alum of Michigan State University, kept up to date on the Larry Nassar sexual assault case at his university. He wasn’ t in office at the time, but he believes the survivors there didn’ t receive the support and assurances they deserved quickly enough, and that the U-M Robert Anderson sex- ual assault cases are a chance to help hold institutions accountable. “Whether Michigan State intended to or not, we heard about them stumbling into doing the right thing, in put- ting things in place to help these survivors, in trying to make them whole, in institut- ing changes,” Berman said. The lack of support and assurances in a timely man- ner for the MSU survivors can be traced back to an important exemption in uni- versities typically having gov- ernmental immunity from lawsuits: improper medical care. MSU attempted to dis- miss Nassar-related lawsuits by saying Nassar was sexually assaulting individuals, not providing medical care. To Berman’ s understand- ing, U-M is willing to com- pensate the survivors and give out-of-court settlements, but to do so, they’ re trying to get the lawsuits thrown out through the immunity loophole. Seeing what happened at MSU, Berman created a gov- ernmental immunity bill with that loophole in mind, hop- ing to aid survivors in getting their day in court by halting the immunity. “My bill says that if the assault came under the guise of medical care, and the university knew or should’ ve known that the WIKIPEDIA 26 | OCTOBER 1 • 2020 Rep. Ryan Berman U-M Union Jews in the D 28th Annual Celebration Jewish Senior Life’s Eight Over Eighty recognizes eight distinguished leaders in our community, all over the age of 80, who have demonstrated a lifetime of dedication to the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR NOMINATION FORMS jslmi.org/eight-over-eighty-event or contact Beth Tryon at 248-592-5026 TTY #711 Btryon@jslmi.org Nominations will be accepted through December 3, 2020 over SAVE THE DATE A Virtual Celebration SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2021 NOON Without your generous support, Jewish Senior Life could not continue to provide quality services and programs that are so vital to the lives of the older adults and their families we serve.