Results
USA Gymnastics – $380 million settlement
Michelle represented over two dozen former USA gymnasts who were sexually abused by Larry Nassar, and served as one of the lead attorneys that reached a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics, the US Olympic & Paralympic committee, and their insurers in December 2021 – a groundbreaking result after a five-year legal battle. Hundreds of gymnasts came forward alleging abuse by Nassar, and that USA Gymnastics and Olympic officials failed to intervene and stop Nassar. Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years and up to 125 years, respectively, in two separate Michigan courts for abusing gymnasts under his care. The settlement provided funds to help pay for future mental health treatments, including the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, for the survivors. Michelle played a large role in reaching this monumental settlement by representing gymnasts abused by Nassar both at the Olympics and at Michigan State University.
In 2019, Michelle worked on legislation in Texas and prepared and presented clients to testify before the Texas Senate resulting in the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims being extended to 30 years in Texas. Texas HB 3809
Michelle worked on legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021. The legislation, sponsored by Congressman Nadler in the House and Senator Elizabeth Warren in the Senate, prohibits wealthy companies from using the bankruptcy process as a way to shield themselves from full accountability. Michelle worked on the substance of the legislation with House Judiciary Committee counsel and assisted in organizing and preparing her client to testify in a House Subcommittee hearing on the bill. Michelle’s client, former Olympian Tasha Schwikert Moser, a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, testified at the hearing of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law in July 2021.
CNN | Larry Nassar abuse victims reach $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee
University of Southern California – $852 million settlement
Michelle represented survivors in cases against the University of Southern California where students were abused by the campus gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall. The settlement reached with USC was a staggering $852 million, the biggest sex abuse payout in higher education history. More than 18,000 women saw Dr. Tyndall at USC, and over the course of his 30-year career at the school, women alleged he made inappropriate comments, took photos, and groped them during examinations.
CBS | 5 More Women Sue USC Alleging Gynecologist Abused Them
New York Times | U.S.C. Agrees to Pay $1.1 Billion to Patients of Gynecologist Accused of Abuse
University of Michigan—$460 million settlement
Michelle represented student-athletes that attended the University of Michigan and were abused by the school’s athletic trainer, Dr. Robert Anderson. The settlement reached in January 2022 provided $460 million to the roughly 1050 people, mostly men, who were abused by the doctor over the course of his career starting in 1966 and ending in 2003, and another $30 million towards future claimants who choose to participate in the settlement. Michelle played a large role in this case by not only fighting for the survivors to see the justice they deserve but also holding the university accountable and ensuring they enforce new policies to protect students and take real action against claims of abuse in the future.
MLive | Law firms take varying approaches to holding UM accountable in doctor abuse cases
ESPN | University of Michigan reaches $490 million settlement in Robert Anderson abuse case
D Magazine | How Michelle Simpson Tuegel Fought the Good Fight Against USA Gymnastics
Hilton Management LLC – $44 million settlement
In November 2021, Michelle represented a rape survivor in a case against Hilton Management LLC that resulted in a $44 million verdict – what is believed to be the largest sexual assault verdict against a hotel chain. A person passing by a Hilton hotel in downtown Texas called 911 to report seeing a man starting to expose himself over an incapacitated woman on the sidewalk. When police and hotel security officers arrived to find the woman vomiting and unable to speak, the man who exposed himself said, “She’s with me,” according to the complaint. Hilton staff proceeded to place the woman in a wheelchair and failed to check her identification or confirm if she had a room under her own name, which she did. Security footage shows Hilton staff ushering the unconscious woman up to the man’s room where she was sexually assaulted.
NBC Houston | Woman wins $44M in suit against Houston Hilton Hotel after alleged sexual assault, lawyers say
Clergy Sexual Abuse
The Simpson Tuegel Law Firm has represented hundreds of child sex abuse survivors in their fight for justice against their abusers and the Catholic diocese that enabled them. For example, Michelle along with her co-counsel also represented 170 New York victims who accused priests of abusing them as children.
Simpson Tuegel also advocated for the opening of a window in New York for survivors of child sex abuse to seek justice against their abusers, creating a report on the millions of dollars spent on lobbying efforts by the Catholic Church. These efforts were in part to prevent laws from being passed that would open the statute of limitations and give sexual abuse survivors more time to seek justice. To read the full report, please click here.
In 2019, Michelle worked on legislation in Texas and prepared and presented clients to testify before the Texas Senate which resulted in the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims being extended to 30 years.
The Washington Post | New York braces for a flood of lawsuits, as one-year window opens for child sexual abuse
Severe Injury / Wrongful Death
Las Vegas Mass Shooting – $800 million settlement
Michelle was the first attorney to file a lawsuit in connection with the MGM Las Vegas shooting. She represented a young woman who was attending the Route 91 Harvest Music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 2017, when she was struck by a bullet as Stephen Paddock was firing out of his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Paddock killed 58 people and injured hundreds more before killing himself. Michelle filed suit against MGM Resorts International for allowing Paddock to get to his hotel room with his weaponry and the music festival for not having a crisis plan and not taking precautionary measures to mediate chaos in the event of an emergency. An $800 million settlement was reached with MGM for more than 4,400 relatives and victims of the Las Vegas shooting that was the deadliest in U.S. history.
FOX | Family of Las Vegas victim ‘wants answers,’ lawyer says, as authorities remain tight-lipped
Oncor Electric Delivery Company – Confidential Settlement
Michelle obtained a settlement for the family of a 20-year-old man who was killed when his tractor struck a power line in Texas in July 2018. The young man was assisting his father in harvesting grain when his tractor pulling a grain cart encountered a low-hanging power line. The contact started a fire, and when the young man attempted to stamp out the flames, he was electrocuted and killed. Prior landowners reported low-hanging lines and severely rotted supporting posts prior to the incident, and Oncor violated the National Electric Safety Code by failing to fix the lines and protect the public. Michelle claimed the Oncor Electric Delivery Company’s reckless disregard for the young man’s safety led to his death, and ultimately the company resolved the case for a confidential amount.
ABC Austin | Family suing Oncor after 20-year-old dies when tractor strikes power line