Two football players believe they’re sexual abuse payout should be as high as Nassar’s
Two University of Michigan (UM) players who were the recipients of payouts from a fund meant to compensate victims of sexual abuse are claiming that they should have received much more than they did. Dwight Hicks and Jon Vaughn together walked away with roughly $1M. The funds are intended to go to all victims of abuse, not just the ballplayers, and this abuse spanned many many years, according to former athletes.
From the late 1960s to the early 2000s, Anderson held many positions at the University of Michigan (UM) including working as the director of University Health Services and as an athletic department physician. Students would visit him before the start of their seasons and be cleared to play or they would have to go to the physician for sports injuries
During these times, the doctor would grope the students. Some keep their accounts quiet, while others chose to report. Unfortunately, many of these accounts weren’t made until years later. They would be subjected to hernia and prostate exams that would not medically necessary or taken too far that.
Hicks and Vaughn, who shared the funding with 1,000 other students, believe this is yet another example of Black Americans receiving less compensation than their white counterparts. They claim this in in part because the payout to victims of Michigan State University’s former gymnastics coach Larry Nassar, a case which averaged $1.2 million in payouts.
“The differences: One, they were women. Two, they were white,” said Hicks, 65, who attended UM from 1974-1978 and spent eight seasons in the NFL.
“The fact that there was a smaller pool of victims, about 300, in Michigan State’s $500 million settlement in 2018. I don’t feel we should get less. This is the damage that was done to us and at the end of the day, none of this is fair,” Vaughn said.
Anderson retired in 2003 and he died in 2008. Nassar, who also worked as a sports doctor for USA Gymnastics, pleaded guilty in 2018. He also was caught with child pornography. He is serving three prison sentences.
“None of the 332 initial individuals represented by his firm in the Nassar case were Black,” White said, “It’s not unheard of that men are discounted, so to speak, when it comes to these sorts of cases. We have to appreciate the University of Michigan coming forward and doing what they did. There were a lot of claimants. The numbers are difficult, but on its face it is what it is. We’ve got $1.2 million for young, Caucasian women and we have an average of $460,000 for the majority of these African American men.”
Vaughn acknowledged and added, “There’s a myriad of reasons or facts in this case that are different than Nassar. I should have never had my first prostate exam at 18 and should not have had 49 more. What each will receive in the settlement is not the major reason why they spoke up about Anderson. They’re older and many of them are accomplished. This was not about money for the vast majority of them. They really just felt they needed to voice-up and have some accountability.”
Sources:
Abuse victims see inequity in payouts at 2 Michigan schools
University of Michigan Will Pay $490 Million to Settle Abuse Cases
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