LOS ANGELES (KNX) — The University of California system has agreed to pay a settlement of more than $100 million to a class of several hundred women who say they were sexually abused by a former UCLA gynecologist.
The settlement, announced Monday by attorneys representing 203 plaintiffs who said they were sexually abused by Dr. James Heaps over the course of more than three decades, brings to a close a suit that alleged the university ignored complaints and concealed evidence of Heaps’ conduct for years.
An investigation into complaints against Heaps began in 2017. The school declined to renew his contract the following year. In 2021, he was charged by L.A. County prosecutors with 21 counts of sex crimes involving women.
The lawsuit arising from those crimes was one of many filed against UCLA. The school settled a similar lawsuit last year for $73 million wherein more than 100 women alleged Heaps groped them, made inappropriate remarks during examinations, and even sexually assaulted patients with an ultrasound probe.
UCLA did not acknowledged any wrongdoing in reaching the 2021 settlement, but did commit to updating its policies for dealing with sexual misconduct on campus. Heaps has pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing in connection with the abuse allegations.
UCLA’s payout comes on the heels of a similar settlement reached at the University of Southern California last year. The school agreed to pay a whopping $852 million settlement to more than 700 women who claimed they were sexually abused by campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall. The school also reached a separate $215 million settlement in a related suit.
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