The Michigan Senate will reconvene from its winter break this week.
When it does, a bill making it easier for accusers of deceased University of Michigan athletics Doctor Robert Anderson to sue the school will likely be introduced.
There have been more than a thousand complaints of sexual assault against Anderson spanning his decades-long career.
Attorney Parker Stinar is an attorney representing some of the accusers of former U of M athletics Doctor Robert Anderson. He said the Legislature has slow-walked bills that would allow survivors to seek justice.
“It’s been over a year and a half since legislation was introduced for these survivors of Dr. Anderson. And we’ve had one hearing date and one committee and we’ve had no vote,” Stinar said.
He said current state law gives government agencies immunity from civil lawsuits. That makes it hard for survivors to sue the U of M in state court.
“In our society, we’ll never be able to prevent bad people from being bad. But we can prevent them from being bad over and over and over again once we get the first report of their action,” Stinar said.
The bill from state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) would remove hurdles preventing accusers from suing U of M for a 30-day window.
The school declined to comment on the planned bill.