EAST LANSING — Michigan State University is hiring an outside law firm to assist trustee George Perles in responding to allegations made in a lawsuit this week that he intervened after an MSU athlete reported she'd been raped by Larry Nassar and that the complaint was dropped shortly after.

“We are in the process of retaining counsel and once retained, Mr. Perles’ counsel will speak for him,” Robert Young, vice president and general counsel for the university, wrote in an email on Wednesday.

Perles, 84, who joined the Board of Trustees in 2007, has not commented publicly on the lawsuit.

Although Perles is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed on Monday, it alleges he worked to cover up an allegation of rape made against Larry Nassar in 1992.

More: Lawsuit: George Perles intervened after Nassar accused of drugging, raping athlete in 1992

Erika Davis claims in the lawsuit that she was drugged and raped by Nassar during a medical appointment in the spring of 1992. She was a 17-year-old MSU field hockey player when the rape occurred, according to the lawsuit. Davis also claimed that Nassar videotaped the assault.

After being told of the assault, Davis’ coach, Martha Ludwig, confronted Nassar, demanding and receiving a copy of the recording, per the lawsuit. Perles later intervened, the lawsuit says, and the complaint was dropped. Perles forced Ludwig to return the video, resign, and sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed against the university, its Board of Trustees, Larry Nassar, USA Gymnastics and others.

Perles has not returned messages left seeking comment.

Jordan Merson, Davis' New York attorney, also has not responded to messages left seeking comment since Tuesday. On Thursday, a woman who answered the phone in Merson's office said they aren't talking to the media.

MSU released a statement on Monday that read, in part, “We are deeply sorry for the abuses Larry Nassar has committed, and for the trauma experienced by all sexual assault survivors. Sexual abuse, assault and relationship violence are not tolerated in our campus community. While the protocols and procedures mentioned in this lawsuit do not reflect how sexual assault claims are handled at MSU, we are taking the allegations very seriously and looking into the situation.”

Perles became the head football coach at MSU in 1982, adding responsibilities of athletic director in 1990. In the spring of 1992, he handed over the athletic director position to Merrily Dean Baker, who arrived in mid-May.

Perles remained MSU’s head football coach until 1994. Two years later, the NCAA levied penalties against the program for violations including cash payments to recruits and academic fraud. MSU forfeited five wins from the 1994 football season and was put on a four-year probation.

No evidence was found that Perles knew about the misdeeds. Perles told the Detroit Free Press in September of 1996 that he “challenged anyone to investigate a program with a 12-year coach and not find some problems.”

erles was reelected to the board in 2014. His term expires Jan. 1, 2023.

Hundreds of women and girls have sued MSU and USA Gymnastics over Nassar's abuses. Nearly all have said the sexual abuse was digital vaginal or anal penetration during medical appointments. Nassar also pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young girl outside of a medical setting. That abuse occurred over several years, ending in the early 2000s, and included Nassar digitally penetrating her vagina and masturbating in front of her.

Earlier this year, MSU agreed to settle lawsuits filed by more than 300 women and girls for $425 million, with an additional $75 million set aside for future lawsuits. Monday was the deadline that settlement agreement set for new claims.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted Nassar on state sexual assault charges and is investigating MSU's handling of Nassar, is aware of the Davis' lawsuit, spokeswoman Andrea Bitely said. She declined to comment further.

MSU fired Nassar in September 2016, amid an increasing number of sexual assault reports dating back years.

Nassar, 55, formerly of Holt, is serving a 60-year federal prison sentence on child pornography convictions.

He was also sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting nine girls.

Nassar has appealed his sentences. To date, all of those appeals have been denied.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.