EAST LANSING, Mich. — Survivors of the former disgraced doctor Larry Nassar have just filed a lawsuit against Michigan State University.
"We have been playing this basketball game for like five years trying to get these documents and this lawsuit is actually the last shot at justice," Angelika Martinez-McGhee, former gymnast and survivor said.
Survivors and the Parents of Sister Survivors Engage group (POSSE) are filing the lawsuit stating that secret decisions were made by MSU about releasing documents in the case.
Plaintiff attorney from Elder Brinkman Law, Azzam Elder, stated that the university has refused to comply with federal law.
"I personally believe that the MSU trustees as well as their legal counsel intentionally violated both the Open Meetings Act and the FOIA statute,” explained Elder.
In April, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was contacted by the Michigan State Board of Trustees, and the board communicated that they had the votes to release all documents.
Furthermore, around April 14, Nessel sent the board a letter, at their request, to vote to release the 6,000 documents upon their meeting on April 21. However, the vote never occurred, and the documents were never released.
“I feel that there is info and evidence in the docs that the school does not want the public to know,” stated Elder.
Michigan State University provided the following statement:
“The university does not comment on pending litigation, and we have not seen or been served with the lawsuit. For additional comments, please refer to MSU Board of Trustees Chair Rema Vassar’s statement issued April 21, 2023, and former Chair Dianne Byrum’s statement issued March 26, 2021.”
