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.

