LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A California woman alleges a gynecologist at a university's student health center had inappropriate physical contact with female patients.
Lucy Chi filed a complaint on behalf of individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated on May 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against University of Southern California, board of trustees of the University of Southern California and George Tyndall MD alleging violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, gender violence, negligence and other counts.
According to the complaint, USC offers a student health center that offers women's health care services, including well women visits. The suit states Tyndall was hired by USC in 1989 and has been the only full-time gynecologist at the center for nearly 30 years.
The suit states that "Tyndall physically intruded and/or invaded the bodies of plaintiff and the class members during medical examinations in a sexual manner."
The plaintiff alleges in 2012, she was a first-year graduate student at USC and scheduled an annual exam with the university's health center with Tyndall. She alleges his conduct during the exam "caused significant distress."
The plaintiff alleges the USC defendants failed to adequately supervise Tyndall and that their conduct "demonstrated a willful disregard for precautions to ensure plaintiff's safety."
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against defendants, certify class action, award compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. She is represented by Christopher R. Pitoun of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in Pasadena, California.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:18-cv-04258