A class action complaint was
filed in the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of
Michigan on Thursday against
the University of Michigan for
its handling of allegations of
sexual assault against former
University doctor Robert E.
Anderson. The complaint, in
order to prevent and respond
to sexual violence on the U-M
campus, seeks a court order
that will require the University
to carry out major reforms
surrounding
the
school’s
best-practice
policies
and
procedures related to sexual
and gender-based abuse on
campus.
“The
patient-physician
relationship involves a solemn
commitment and trust,” the
complaint reads. “Without trust,
how could a physician expect
patients to reveal the full extent
of
their
medically
relevant
history, expose themselves to
the physical exam, or act on
recommendations for tests or
treatments? For decades, the
University of Michigan allowed
and enabled a physician in its
employ, Dr. Robert E. Anderson
to continuously violate that
solemn trust.”
The complaint, which lists
a series of reforms and best-
practices,
states
that
the
University needs to implement
more training and education,
and add additional policies for
how to identify, prevent and
respond to sexual and gender-
based assault. It also seeks
to appoint an “independent
monitor”
to
oversee
the
implementation
of
these
policies and report on progress
to the court.
Some lawyers representing
plaintiffs,
like
Annika
K.
Martin,
made
statements
providing support to victims of
Anderson.
“Everyone who was abused
by Robert Anderson – including
those who may not be ready
to come forward – deserves
an opportunity to hold U-M
accountable and have their voice
heard,” Martin said. “U-M has
repeatedly failed to implement
policies that put students first,
and accordingly this complaint
seeks relief through the court
to ensure they will.”
Led by LSA junior Josephine
Graham, the complaint is a
companion to a suit filed in
March 2020 by survivors of
abuse at the hands of Anderson.
The
complaint
alleges
the
University
and
its
Regents
enabled
Anderson’s
sexual
abuse of students from 1968
until 2003.
“The Anderson case is one
of many at U-M rooted in the
university’s
pervasive
and
broken culture mirroring our
greater society,” Graham said
in a press release. “Gender-
based violence is a complex,
systemic issue that requires
systemic solutions to prevent
and eradicate it.”
More than 70 individual
lawsuits
have
been
filed
in
federal
court,
but
the
class action suit, unlike the
individual
lawsuits
which
only
represent
specific
plaintiffs, seeks to prosecute
the University on behalf of all
students affected by Anderson
— even those who may not be
ready to come forward.
Since
October
2020,
the
lawyers
representing
the
University and the lawyers who
brought the original class action
suit have been in negotiations.
A settlement could cost the
University millions of dollars
in damages to the hundreds of
alleged victims of Anderson’s
abuse.
The law firm WilmerHale
completed their independent
investigation of the allegations
against Anderson last week.
The investigation concluded
that there was “no doubt” about
the fact that the hundreds of
complaints against Anderson
were credible and Anderson
exhibited a consistent pattern
of
misconduct.
The
report
outlines recommendations for
the University to follow in order
to improve upon their practices
and
procedures
regarding
sexual assault.
3
Thursday, May 27, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS
In a normal semester, Good
Time Charley’s — the Ann Arbor
bar located in the heart of the South
University Avenue district — would
be packed shoulder-to-shoulder
with students and community
members gathered to watch sports
games or celebrate St. Patrick’s
Day. But since the pandemic
began, Charley’s and other local
small businesses have received
less business and faced additional
challenges.
Charley’s
co-owner
Adam
Lowenstein said since March of
2020, Charley’s has suffered a
60% decrease in sales, along with
multiple different shut-downs and
a minor fire caused by an outside
heater. Lowenstein said the fire was
“the cherry on top” to an already
hard year with the pandemic.
“The whole year was a major
blow,” Lowenstein said. “It was
kind of a crazy year where we had
to just adapt on the fly and adjust to
everything that was being thrown
at us.”
Ann
Arbor
businesses
like
Charley’s
experienced
major
declines in sales, staff, in-person
capacity and store hours over
the course of the fall and winter
semesters due to public health
guidelines
set
by
the
state
and
University
of
Michigan
administration. Lowenstein and
other small business owners were
forced to completely alter their
traditional business models due
to COVID-19, and will continue to
navigate running a small business
through the aftermath of the
pandemic.
Lowenstein said the constant
fluctuations in curfew policies,
capacity and more challenged
Charley’s
traditional
business
model.
“We’ve had to alter our business
model entirely,” Lowenstein said.
“We’ve
shortened
our
hours;
focused more on takeout and
delivery; we’ve not done a happy
hour; we’re doing a lot more
regular sit-down restaurant sales.
A business model like that is not
profitable.”
During the fall and winter
months, Charley’s relied heavily on
their newly updated takeout and
delivery service, which includes
alcoholic beverages, as well as
the warmer weather that allows
for maximized outdoor seating.
However, Lowenstein said that
even with these successes, the
fluctuating
rise
of
COVID-19
cases in Ann Arbor still presented
difficulties for Charley’s.
“The
hardest
part
is
the
uncertainty: trying to always be
changing and always be adapting
and not knowing when you’re going
to be able to just go back to normal,”
Lowenstein said.
Zingerman’s
Delicatessen,
another Ann Arbor and U-M
community favorite, has been
closed for in-person dining since
the pandemic began in March
2020. Jennifer Hall, marketing
and communications manager for
Zingerman’s, said, like Charley’s,
Zingerman’s had to completely
revise their original business model
by implementing new programs.
“We’re
always
looking
for
change and are able to experiment
with different approaches and
take the best of what we learn
in that work and then try it out,”
Hall said. “If it works, it’s great,
and if it doesn’t work, we try
again. So we’ll continue to do that,
we’ll continue to look for ways to
improve and opportunities to make
changes across our operations and
our service to meet whatever the
demands of the time are.”
Zingerman’s
“Reuben
Tour”
was one of the new ideas the
business put together last summer
in the hopes of increasing business.
According to Hall, the “Reuben
Tour” was a success and could be
repeated this upcoming summer.
“We took orders from people in
different cities like Kalamazoo and
Grand Rapids and Detroit,” Hall
said. “Last summer, people weren’t
traveling very much outside of their
own communities, so they placed
orders with us, and then we took
the orders out to them. It was like a
giant takeout project, and that was
a great idea. We have a lot of people
who were super interested and they
loved it.”
Ann Arbor Councilmember Ali
Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, is the owner
and operator of Jerusalem Garden.
He said there is adversity rooted in
keeping a business alive and well
during an ongoing pandemic.
“When you can’t plan in business,
it’s very stressful,” Ramlawi said.
“You want to plan for your staff,
how you train your staff, how
much staff to have, how much food
to have. And you would get these
dictates at the last minute, and you
got to redraw your plans again.
You’re trying to run a business, and
with anything business you want to
be consistent with everything, and
there was very little consistency in
the last year.”
Ramlawi also discussed the
ongoing struggles and battles small
businesses in Ann Arbor have to
endure and try to overcome.
“As
entrepreneurs,
small
business owners and restaurateurs,
we are creative, fighters, hard
workers, and we show up every day
and we know every day is a new
day,” Ramlawi said. “Even though
yesterday was one of the worst days
you’ve had in a long time, you’d
come back, dust yourself off, show
up again, hope that your staff joins
you, and you fight to live to see
another day.”
Local businesses reflect on harsh year, but
anticipate better prospects for the fall
Class-action complaint filed
against U-M for its handling of
Anderson cases
MARTHA LEWAND
Daily News Staff Reporter
JARED DOUGALL
Summer News Editor
Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com
ISAAC MANGOLD/Daily
Ann Arbor businesses anticipate a return to more normal operations in the fall.