[ad_1]
In his Brentwood mansion two years in the past, Rick Caruso sat down in entrance of his iPad, raised his proper hand and swore to inform the reality. Over the following 9 hours, attorneys for a whole bunch of USC college students and alumnae grilled the developer, then chair of the college’s governing board, about who was guilty for sexual abuse and harassment they mentioned they suffered by the hands of a campus gynecologist.
The solutions Caruso gave in late October 2020 at a remotely held deposition have been sealed from public view by a protecting order within the case and have remained secret since, even because the billionaire launched into a mayoral marketing campaign premised partly on his efficiency at USC.
A transcript of the deposition not too long ago reviewed by The Instances confirmed Caruso refusing to reply many questions, on the recommendation of USC’s authorized workforce. With greater than half a dozen college attorneys monitoring his testimony, he invoked attorney-client privilege time and again in declining to disclose discussions with directors about Dr. George Tyndall or the conclusions of an investigation into the gynecologist’s troubled historical past at a campus clinic.
“Primarily based on the recommendation of counsel, as we’ve talked about, I can’t launch the knowledge. I’m sorry,” Caruso replied after being requested whether or not ladies suing would ever know “who was liable for their being sexually assaulted within the stirrups by their physician.”
5 months after his testimony, Caruso and different trustees signed off on a landmark $852-million settlement that introduced the whole compensation for Tyndall’s former sufferers to greater than $1.1 billion — the biggest sex-abuse payout in training historical past.
Publication
Get the lowdown on L.A. politics
On this pivotal election yr, we’ll break down the poll and inform you why it issues in our L.A. on the Report publication.
You could often obtain promotional content material from the Los Angeles Instances.
Caruso, who took over as chair of USC’s board shortly after revelations about Tyndall turned public, has lengthy positioned his steering of the college out of disaster for example of the management he would provide in Metropolis Corridor. The election is three weeks away, and early voting has begun.
His opponent, U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), has argued that he bears some accountability for Tyndall as a result of he served on the board throughout the gynecologist’s remaining decade treating sufferers. In a single advert, Bass’ marketing campaign accused Caruso of failing ladies throughout the “ugliest chapter within the faculty’s historical past.”
In his testimony, Caruso mentioned he had by no means heard Tyndall’s title till March 2018, when The Instances started asking former and present staff in regards to the gynecologist. The Instances’ investigation prompted the college’s president and normal counsel to temporary the board’s government committee in a cellphone name. Directors had quietly pressured Tyndall out the earlier yr after a long time of complaints, however they did not alert trustees or college students.
“Have been you upset as a board member you didn’t learn about Tyndall earlier?” requested John Manly, the lead lawyer for the sufferers, throughout the deposition.
“Sure. … It was flawed,” Caruso mentioned. “The board ought to have been instantly notified.”
What then-president C.L. Max Nikias instructed Caruso and different trustees about Tyndall within the preliminary cellphone name and in quite a few conferences that adopted was an space of urgent curiosity to the attorneys questioning Caruso. However he testified that he couldn’t disclose any a part of these conversations with out violating the attorney-client privilege between the college and attorneys who participated within the discussions.
Among the most contentious traces of questioning centered on an investigation into Tyndall by the regulation agency O’Melveny & Myers. Caruso instructed reporters in 2018 and 2019 that he deliberate to make the agency’s findings public. To at the present time, the conclusions stay confidential.
Caruso’s failure to ship on that promise has been some extent of assault for Bass, who this month requested in a radio debate, “What in regards to the victims? If that’s what they needed, they need to have had it.”
Caruso countered that the choice was primarily based on concern about victims. Consultants, he has mentioned, instructed the trustees the main points might retraumatize Tyndall’s sufferers.
In his testimony, Caruso supplied a unique clarification. He mentioned that after O’Melveny’s attorneys laid out their conclusions in personal displays to him and different trustees, USC’s authorized workforce suggested the board to not launch the knowledge.
Requested Tuesday in an interview in regards to the discrepancy, Caruso denied that his causes have been inconsistent.
“You bought to take the evolution of the time,” he mentioned. “As soon as we obtained to a settlement that everyone had agreed to, I don’t need to trigger any extra hurt to anyone. Why would I?”
He reiterated that he thought of Tyndall’s conduct abhorrent and asserted that the board was sure by the obligations of attorney-client privilege.
“The trustees are usually not going to go overrule the final counsel in the midst of a lawsuit, proper? It’s by no means going to occur, nor frankly ought to it occur, from a enterprise best-operating practices” standpoint, he mentioned.
Manly, the lawyer who did a lot of the questioning of Caruso, refused to debate the deposition and didn’t present it to The Instances.
“Mr. Caruso didn’t create George Tyndall. Possibly he had nothing to do with it,” Manly mentioned Tuesday. “However the truth that he’s operating for mayor and hasn’t referred to as for the report’s launch is troubling, given the variety of victims.”
Each USC and Caruso pointed to the archive of information about Tyndall posted on the college’s web site, which has greater than 600 pages of complaints, inner memos and a once-confidential report on Tyndall’s medical practices. A choose ordered USC to launch “all obtainable nonprivileged data” about Tyndall’s time on the college after The Instances petitioned for entry to the information.
In the course of the questioning in 2020, Manly instructed at one level that Caruso’s pledge of transparency was nothing greater than a “public relations stunt,” in keeping with the transcript.
“Is it true that … there was by no means an intent to make the report public?” requested Manly.
“No,” Caruso replied, including, “I take nice delight in my phrase.”
“However you broke your phrase right here,” Manly mentioned.
“No, I didn’t,” Caruso insisted.
He mentioned he had contemplated releasing data over the objections of the attorneys.
“Many occasions I might have appreciated to have carried out that, however I’ve a broader obligation, and it’s past satisfying myself,” Caruso mentioned.
“I used to be a bit naive and possibly a bit too keen as the brand new board chair,” he mentioned at one other level. “Sadly, I couldn’t fulfill … my promise of full transparency the way in which I had hoped and meant to.”
At occasions within the deposition, Caruso gave the impression to be strolling a tightrope between his public picture of empathetic reformer and his fiduciary duties as chief of a multibillion-dollar establishment embroiled in high-stakes litigation.
Although he had issued a public apology to Tyndall’s sufferers and helped oust Nikias as president, Caruso dismissed a query about whether or not the college was at fault.
“I actually can’t reply that,” he replied. “It’s going to be closely litigated by you and others in entrance of a jury, in entrance of a choose, and I can’t presuppose any of that.”
He equally declined to put blame on particular supervisors or directors.
“Counselor, I’ve a robust criticism of the system that allowed this to occur. … I’ve apologized for it. I mentioned it’s unacceptable,” Caruso mentioned. “However I’m not going to call anyone particular person on this deposition.”
Caruso mentioned he didn’t obtain details about Tyndall exterior of conferences the place USC attorneys have been current. Attorneys for the ladies queried him about whether or not he had mentioned the difficulty with an intriguing record of people: Lakers president Jeanie Buss, former Los Angeles Police Division Chief Charlie Beck, famous litigator Daniel Petrocelli or anybody within the Trump White Home. Caruso denied every of them.
Because the deposition slogged into the late afternoon, the attorneys saved asking Caruso to expose data, and he continued invoking attorney-client privilege, prompting USC’s attorneys to complain at size that their counterparts have been “badgering” and “harassing” the witness.
Caruso, who holds a regulation diploma and mentioned he had sat for a dozen depositions in numerous issues, appeared unflappable. Requested whether or not he had handed the bar examination, Caruso quipped, “Amazingly so.”
Questioned about donations to the candidates for L.A. County district lawyer on the time — Jackie Lacey and George Gascón — Caruso acknowledged sending cash to each campaigns.
“I’m being a pure pragmatist,” he mentioned.
Within the remaining stretch of testimony, because the attorneys appeared more and more pissed off, one accused Caruso of wanting down at his cellphone to ship textual content messages fairly than taking note of questions.
He denied it, explaining, “My canine is down right here. Do you need to see an image of my canine? I’m leaning down, and I’m wanting down at him.” Caruso added, “He’s my buddy.”
[ad_2]
Source link