You play, you pay, as the old saying goes. Except in the case of Dr. James Heaps, a former gynecologist at UCLA with an eye, and hands, for the ladies. In his case, his ex-employer got stuck with the bill for his inappropriate action with over 300 women while he was still in their employ. It isn’t a cursory payment to make things go away. We’re talking $700 million.
During his 35-year career at the university, Heaps, untethered, groped, performed unnecessary invasive exams, and made lewd and lascivious comments to his female patients.
Representing the abused women in the case, attorney Jennifer McGrath issued a statement saying, “Dr. Heaps sexually abused patients for years while UCLA Health put profits over their safety. Today’s settlement is the result of the bravery of these victims, and sends a message that healthcare institutions must protect vulnerable patients and act decisively at complaints of abuse.”
In 2018, Michigan State University settled a similar case for $500 million. The private non-profit University of Southern California got slapped with more than $1 billion for their ex-staff-gynecologists undesired hanky-panky with thousands of patients over his decades-long tenure.
UCLA was accused of ignoring victims’ complaints, and for decades, deliberately sweeping these matters under the rug. Heaps attempted to portray his innocence but the evidence and the sheer number of his victims spoke otherwise.
UCLA admitted to conducting an investigation in December 2017 that proved a complainant was correct in saying she had been sexually assaulted and harassed by Heaps.
Yet Heaps remained at the university until June 2018 when he retired with an unblemished record. The university kept the details of the investigation under wraps even until months after Heaps’ arrest in November 2019. UCLA still had hopes of rescuing the good doc from the ties that were binding him, and it was only when they realized they couldn’t that they released the findings of the previous investigation.
UCLA, having previously settled sexual abuse claims against Heaps for a total of $316 million paid under the table, didn’t have a leg to stand on during the trials.
Lying through their educated teeth, a spokesperson for UCLA said, “The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to our values. We are grateful to all those who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing some level of healing for the plaintiffs involved.”
Alleged conduct. They still won’t come clean and they certainly expressed no gratitude towards the victims who previously came forward prior to the national attention the school has now gained.
UCLA is not a lonely step-child. Its blood-related siblings include Ohio State University, Columbia University, and John Hopkins University, which have all paid out ungodly sums of money on behalf of their campus doctors.
The running tally for Michigan State is $500 million, while the University of Michigan slides in just under that figure at $490 million.
When a university settles sexual abuse complaints in the silence of a Deans office it’s called hush money, and a person would be hard-pressed to find even one major university campus that hasn’t been guilty.
The reported sexual abuse may have come from a staff doctor or perhaps a professor in exchange for a better grade. Face it, many college students away from home for the very first time still have a level of naivety. They’re easy targets for adult campus predators who consider a young female student’s lack of worldly ways just a perk of the job.