Two bills seeking to help hundreds of people who say they were sexually assaulted by a University of Michigan sports doctor will be reintroduced in January, the bills’ sponsors announced Friday.
Allegations against the now-deceased Dr. Robert Anderson date back to the 1960's.
One bill would give victims a one-year window from the time the bills passes to file a lawsuit retroactively, even if it's passed the statute of limitations.
The second would revoke legal immunity for government officials in cases involving sexual assault under the guise of medical exams, if the officials did know or should have known it was happening.
Republican Representative Ryan Berman says the legislature couldn't get to the bills this session due to COVID-19. But he says he'll reintroduce them when the new session starts in January.
"Whether it got passed in this session, next session, hopefully - when it finally does, it will give survivors the ability to go into court and bring their claims," said Berman.
The University of Michigan has said it's trying to resolve the Anderson claims outside of court. A University spokesman declined to comment Friday, citing pending litigation.