UCLA Sex Abuse Settlement Update
UCLA Sex Abuse Settlement Update. A recent settlement was announced by the University of California system this week. $375 million will be paid to over 300 women who accused UCLA gynecologist Dr. James Heaps of sexual abuse.
Over the past few years, we’ve written about similar settlements involving doctors at various universities, including claims against disgraced Michigan State Dr. Larry Nasser and USC gynecologist George Tyndall.
This recent UCLA settlement is part of a series of large settlements that have happened over the last few years. Balanced Bridge offers post settlement funding to attorneys on their contingency fees and plaintiffs on their pending settlement awards. The financing is for those who can’t wait months for the distribution of fees or awards.
Financing is easy to apply for, and you can receive funds quickly if you are part of the UCLA Sex Abuse Settlement
UCLA Settles More Sex Abuse Claims Linked To One Doctor
The first settlement involving Dr. James Heaps happened in November 2020. A $73 million settlement was reached in a class action filed by seven women who accused the doctor of sexual abuse.
Heaps was arrested in 2019 and indicted on 21 abuse counts by a grand jury in May of 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all those counts and is currently released on bail. Thus far, Heaps has twice attempted to appeal the indictments. One of the appeals was dismissed by the Los Angeles County Superior Court last August. The second appeal was recently denied in the California 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Dr. Heaps was scheduled to appear in court in the spring of 2022 for a pretrial conference related to his upcoming criminal trial.
The original suit was brought on behalf of thousands of Dr. Heaps patients. However, about 600 women rejected the $73 million settlement and sought individual claims with UCLA. Earlier this year, a $243.6 million settlement was set to resolve claims for more than 200 of those women.
The news this week of an additional $375 million in settlements brings the total over the last two years to over $700 million. The latest settlement round is said to resolve the majority of the remaining lawsuits left outstanding.
Filing Of Claims Made Possible By California Assembly Bill
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 3092 into law in September of 2020. The bill extended the time for plaintiffs to submit claims that were previously barred by the law.
According to various reports, the bill allowed plaintiffs with sexual abuse claims against UCLA employed physicians until the end of 2021 to file a claim against UCLA. The claims could be for any incident occurring between 1983 and 2019. This is what allowed many of those who accused Dr. Heaps to come forward with claims that would otherwise have been barred.
Claims Against Another Doctor Come Forward
Before the end of 2021, more UCLA sex abuse claims came against another doctor, Edward Wiesmeier.
Dr. Wiesmeier was a gynecologist at UCLA between 1974 and 2007 and was also the assistant vice chancellor for student health between 1981 and 2006.
Several former patients have come forward to file claims alleging sexual harassment and abuse at the hands of Wiesmeier when they received services at the student health center. Such incidents are alleged to take place between the mid-1970s up to the mid-1990s.
Other plaintiffs have also alleged that Wiesmeier referred them to Dr. James Heaps, where they suffered abuse at his hands as well.
Thus far, trials are scheduled to start taking place sometime in 2023.
Websites And Other Information
There is a website for the original $73 million settlement with information about filing claims and deadlines. It appears that all the key dates for filing claims and receiving compensation there have already passed.
Right now, we can not find any official website for the $243.6 million and $375 million settlements recently established. There does not appear to be any information regarding them at the current website linked above.
Balanced Bridge Provides Post Settlement Advances For Those That Qualify
Balanced Bridge specializes in post settlement advances for both attorneys and plaintiffs. Our firm works with a wide variety of cases, including sex abuse litigation.
We can fund attorneys on their pending contingency fees and plaintiffs on their pending settlement awards if they can not afford to wait until the settlement distribution.
Those interested in learning more can visit our website or call 267-457-4540 to speak to a representative.
Interested applicants can also fill out our online funding form.
