Victims of former Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse, alongside a parent advocacy group, have withdrawn their lawsuit against the university. The lawsuit was initially filed in an effort to compel the release of 6,000 documents related to the Nassar case. Michigan State University's Board of Trustees had decided in December to release the previously withheld documents, prompting the withdrawal, as reported by FOX 17.
Michigan State had maintained that the documents fell under attorney-client privilege, a claim that was a central point of contention in the survivors' push for transparency. Now, pursuant to the board's vote the documents are to be revealed to the Attorney General's Office. This step is viewed as a pivot toward open accountability over events that have cast a long shadow over the university. "This is a victory on a long road to truth that the survivors, and the public need in order to learn how MSU acted in the Nassar case," Azzam Elder, the attorney who represented the victims and Parents of Sister Survivors Engage (POSSE), told CBS Detroit.
The lawsuit had accused MSU trustees of conducting decisions out of public view, infringing upon the state's Open Meetings Act, and violating the Freedom of Information Act, regarding the Nassar case. With the recent turnover in the documents, the plaintiffs believe they are taking a step toward the reform they have sought. "Accountability is not a check,” POSSE Executive Director Valerie von Frank explained in a WILX interview, “It is a change, and that's all the girls really wanted was, they wanted this situation, this sexual assault, not to happen to others."
Nassar was convicted back in 2018 on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and possession of child pornography, with reports of abuse tracing back to the 1990s. Now, Attorney General Dana Nessel asserts that the examination of the long-awaited documents is imminent. "We haven’t received the documents yet, but we have been in discussions with Michigan State University and their counsel to do that," she stated to WILX. While survivors and advocates like von Frank hope for healing in the aftermath of a longstanding nightmare, the AG's office continues to pursue the full extent of the truth.
Contacted regarding the lawsuit's withdrawal, Michigan State University has chosen not to provide a comment. The survivor group, along with POSSE is now looking to the Attorney General's scrutiny to finally hold the university to account for its part in Nassar’s crimes and its response to the allegations.
