UCLA to pay out $374.4 million more in gynecologist sex-abuse lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (CN) — The University of California has agreed to pay $374.4 million to 312 plaintiffs who sued the school on claims of sexual abuse by a longtime obstetrician-gynecologist at UCLA's medical health center.

"This was a very famous doctor who was touted as the best surgeon, the best oncologist," said plaintiff attorney Jennifer McGrath of Dr. James Heaps. "Hundreds of patients were going to him for cancer diagnostics or cancer treatment."

She added: “Dr. Heaps sexually abused patients for years, while UCLA Health put profits over their safety."

Hundreds of women have accused Heaps of sexual assaulting them during medical examinations, as well as scheduling numerous unnecessary appointments and procedures for financial gain.

"We have clients who were going every two months for invasive ultrasounds, and living in fear that they would be told they had cancer," said McGrath.

This past February, another group of 203 women settled with the university system for $243.6 million, while a federal class action lawsuit settled for $73 million in 2021. That brings the total to nearly $700 million, believed to be the largest payout by a public university over sexual abuse accusations. It's more than the University of Michigan paid out to settle claims of abuse by physician Larry Nassar, though it's less than the $1.1 billion paid out by the private University of Southern California to settle claims of abuse by its gynecologist George Tyndall.

"The conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to our values," said a UCLA spokesperson in a written statement. "We are grateful to all those who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing some level of healing for the plaintiffs involved.

Police arrested Heaps, 65, in 2019, and he was indicted by grand jury on 21 felony counts including sexual battery by fraud and sexual penetration of an unconscious person. Heaps, who worked for UCLA for 35 years between 1983 and 2018 in a variety of roles, has denied the allegations. He faces trial later this year.

Some of the plaintiffs who sued him were late-stage cancer patients with terminal diagnoses. A statement issued by McGrath's firm said Heaps was "a top earner for UCLA for many years, and in his last year of employment at UCLA Health he earned more than $1 million — substantially more than 629 other UC employees in the same job category."

John Manly, the attorney who represented the 203 plaintiffs who settled with UCLA in February, had praised the university on the handling of the Heaps case, noting the school had performed its own independent investigation and had been willing to negotiate a settlement. But McGrath said UCLA has yet to address certain systemic failures that protected Heaps for years.

We’ve learned a lot of troubling things in terms of UCLA Health and UCLA’s failures, frankly," said McGrath. "Many instances, shockingly, of women who made complaints and were ignored."

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