Engler: MSU students, taxpayers will likely pay for Nassar settlements

The money needed for any settlements in lawsuits filed against Michigan State University by victims of Larry Nassar will likely come from students and Michigan taxpayers, MSU interim President John Engler said Thursday.

And the amount of money needed for those payouts will grow if the Michigan House of Representatives passes the same bills passed by the state Senate on Wednesday, Engler went on to say. The current package of bills was written after the sexual abuse scandal surrounding the former Michigan State University sports doctor came to light and more than 250 girls and young women came forward to say they were molested by him during what was supposed to be medical treatment. MSU faces dozens of lawsuits.

Engler's comments came as he appeared before the state Senate higher education subcommittee. He took the opportunity to take on a package of bills coming out of the Nassar cases — specifically those that would lit lift governmental immunity for public institutions like MSU.

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Those bills were fought against by not only MSU, but other Michigan universities and local government officials.

The bills would:

Extend the statute of limitations for criminal sexual abuse claims to 30 years after a person's 18th birthday. For civil lawsuits, the statute of limitations would be 30 years after a person's 18th birthday if they were minors when the assaults occurred and 10 years if the person was at least 18.

Would allow a person to file a civil lawsuit retroactively back to 1997 if the person was a minor when the assault occurred.

If a victim has a retroactive claim, the person would have until a year after the law becomes effective to file a claim.

Increase the penalties for possessing child pornography;

Expand the number of adults who are mandated to report complaints of sexual abuse to include coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, volunteers and bus drivers, and increase the penalties for failing to report cases.

Clarify the law to ensure that governmental entities, including universities and colleges, do not have immunity from civil or criminal cases of sexual assault if they knew or should have known of the cases and failed to report those cases to law enforcement.

The bills — SB 871-880 — now move to the House of Representatives for consideration. Some of the same bills have also been introduced in the House, such as expanding the number of people who have to report cases of sexual abuse, and those are expected to pass easily. But lobbying on the other, more controversial aspects of the bills will continue and the future of those bills is uncertain.

Engler said the package strips MSU's ability to defend itself and gives those suing MSU more power to not negotiate for a settlement good for all parties.

His statement drew sharp rebukes from survivors and their attorneys on social media.

"Clear evidence, once again, the MSU Board and President Engler have not listened to a word we have said, nor do they understand or care about the impact of sexual assault or making sure this doesn't happen again," said Nassar survivor Rachael Denhollander.

Attorney John Manly echoed those thoughts.

"Watching Engler testify and lie that our team doesn’t want mediation or has been blocking it — we have been begging MSU for mediation for months. We have proposed mediators, dates and tried everything to get MSU to the table . He is not telling the truth but what else is new?"

Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, a committee member, wasn't pleased with Engler's attack on the Legislature.

"I think blaming the Legislature for trying to make sure that survivors have access to justice is not good and I think that, in reality, there’ve been negotiations about settlements since November so to blame that on the Legislature is disingenuous," Hertel said.

Engler said he still hopes for out of court settlements.

"It is my goal," he told the media after the hearing. "I absolutely believe we can" settle. He said a long court battle is not good for survivors, MSU or the state.

As for paying for those settlements, Engler said the university doesn't have anywhere really to turn other than to tuition or state aid.

"We will have to successfully negotiate settlements and then we'll see (how to pay). As Penn State found out, sometime insurers don't pay," he said, adding MSU couldn't touch its endowments because contracts with donors barred those funds from being used for purposes other than what they were given for. "It will be students and taxpayers."

That didn't sit well with lawmakers.

“I would say that the Legislature is not the reason why MSU is in the situation it is," Hertel said. Handling of cases, which predate Engler’s appointment as interim president, is why they are in the situation they are in, he added.

Committee chairwoman Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, was blunter.

Paying for the settlements "should not be based on taxpayers and students."

The hearing was the first time Engler has faced questions from lawmakers in a public session. Schuitmaker opened the hearing by asking Engler about what MSU was doing to make sure a Nassar-style case never happened again.

Engler then talked for nearly 15 minutes about the positive impact MSU has on Michigan and the lack of state aid for MSU before bringing up Nassar.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Free Press staff writer Kathleen Gray contributed to this report.