In January, USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for committing sexual assault over the span of decades. Before Judge Rosemarie Aquilina concluded her sentencing, she told him directly, “I just signed your death warrant.” This case has been harrowing enough to keep an eye on, and it seems that the horrific developments haven’t ended with Nassar receiving his punishment. One of his victims is now claiming that the president of Michigan State University, John Engler, attempted to sway her into settling the case out of court, for $250,000.
According to Bleacher Report, the MSU interim president told Nassar survivor Kaylee Lorincz that she should take the schools offer of $250,000 and settle her lawsuit without her lawyer present. As Kiran Saini of WXYZreported, Lorincz felt “bullied into saying something” during a meeting on March 28. Thanks to Fox 2 News’ Kellie Rowe, who was present at the meeting, we can hear from the survivor herself—and how despicable these developments were.
“It’s not about money,” Lorincz said. “At this point, I was feeling pretty bad. President Engler and his lawyer had just attempted to coerce me into settling without my lawyer present.” Those attempting to sway her into settling tried to diminish her plight, reiterating that it was just “one bad doctor,” and that her suit, therefore, seemed excessive. As you can hear in the clip, Lorincz testimony here drew audible gasps from those in court. When she was told that her time to speak was over, the crowd began chanting “let her speak.”
According to Bleacher Report, Engler became interim president of MSU when former president Lou Anna Simon resigned once Nassar’s activities had come to light. Engler was the Governor of Michigan from 1991 through 2003, which is in itself quite terrifying, in light of the bribe-related claims against him. In March, Engler claimed his “goal” was to achieve out-of-court settlements with Nassar survivors to avoid drawn-out court proceedings. To argue for this, he said remuneration for the victims isn’t guaranteed. “We will have to successfully negotiate settlements and then we’ll see (how to pay),” he said. “As Penn State found out, sometimes insurers don’t pay. It will be students and taxpayers.”
While this is utterly disgusting behavior—suggesting survivors of sexual assault take the money and run, instead of fighting for the justice they deserve and feel in their bones—the most important thing here is that Nassar will spend the rest of his life behind bars. On the other hand, it’s disheartening to see how many people out there aren’t immediately identifiable as monsters, but secretly are, until allegations like these bring them out of the shadows.
