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USA Gymnastics proposes $425 million settlement with sex abuse survivors

Orange County Register - 8/31/2021

Aug. 31—USA Gymnastics has filed a reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Indiana that proposes a $425 million settlement with the more than 500 survivors who allege they were sexually abused by former U.S. Olympic and national team physician Larry Nassar, according to documents obtained by the Southern California News Group.

The plan, however, has been approved by only four of eight insurance providers, leaving at least half of the settlement as currently proposed unfunded, according to documents.

The 133-page proposal appears designed to apply pressure on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to fund at least part of the settlement. SCNG has previously reported that the USOPC has maintained in a series of court filings that it has no legal obligation to protect Olympic athletes from sexual or physical abuse.

"We are hopeful that this filing will encourage the remaining insurance carriers to come to the negotiating table with a meaningful offer of settlement, and that USOPC will also do the same," said Kim Dougherty, an attorney for Nassar survivors. "It's time. The survivors deserve closure."

The USOPC said in a statement "The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee is grateful to the victims and survivors for their courage and leadership. The USOPC supports the new reorganization plan filed jointly by the survivors of abuse and USA Gymnastics. For years, we have worked and pressed for a fair and just resolution for the victims and survivors of abuse. More than two years ago, the USOPC joined the parties' mediation in an effort to support a resolution, and we actively sought to advance the process. Under the new plan, the USOPC will contribute substantially to the compensation of the survivors.

"There are, unfortunately, some insurance carriers that continue to withhold support for this plan, and we urge these carriers — in the strongest terms — to join the rest of the parties in supporting the plan's fair resolution for the victims and survivors of abuse."

More to come on this story ...

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