The sexual assault case against James Heaps, a former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus physician and gynecologist. A federal judge has preliminarily approved a settlement agreement in which the University of California system agreed to pay more than 5,500 female victims a total of $73 million in restitution, a federal court announced on Nov. 11. The defendant, Heaps, was charged with 20 felony counts of sexual assault.
Sipes, a former UCLA school nurse
Federal Judge R. Gary Klausner recently gave preliminary approval of the settlement in federal court in Los Angeles, and will need final approval from a judge during July. The case was part of a class action lawsuit against gynecologist Sipes for sexual assaults committed on the UCLA campus and other locations where victims alleged sexual abuse and assault by the defendant. It is hoped that Los Angeles will strengthen strict protection measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
The sexual assault case against UCLA school nurse Sipes was originally filed in 2019 by the purported victims in a class action lawsuit alleging that the defendant was involved in assault, abuse and harassment of female victims. The university was also accused of failing to protect these victims on campus, even after being informed of the defendant’s wrongdoing against numerous victims. The $73 million in the settlement agreement will be used to compensate more than 5,500 victims. The victims were harmed at the Ronald Regan LAUSD Medical Center from 1986 to 2018, at the campus Student health Center from 1983 to 2010, and at the Sipes at UCLA office from 2014 to 2018.
The alleged violations include sexual abuse during examinations, recommending unnecessary gynecological examination procedures, and examining too frequently to do more illegal acts, while the defendant made inappropriate sexual innuendoes and comments during examinations and asked the victim to remove her clothes on the pretext of facilitating the examination. The defendant, Sipes, 67, pleaded not guilty to the alleged abuse of seven of the victims.
Sexual abuse defense attorney John Manly, who is representing the 112 victims in the case, said that according to the settlement, which was first announced, the victims were not allowed to be seen. He said the victims will each receive between $2,500 and $250,000 in damages, according to the contents of a settlement agreement first announced. He claimed in November 2020 that the average victim would receive about $11,000. He said it is clear that this is what UCLA and the University of California system will pay to all victims of serious sexual assault and abuse by school nurses.
He emphasized that his law firm does not agree with the settlement and that some of the victims he represents do not accept it. He urged the California governor and attorney general and legislature to investigate how the settlement was reached and who was involved.
The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that the case was not formally investigated by UCLA until late 2017, despite the fact that some of the victims had long complained to the university about the wrongdoing of school nurse Sipes. On June 14, 2018, UCLA terminated Sipes’ working relationship and notified law enforcement authorities of the investigation, and in June 2019, Sipes was arrested and charged with multiple counts of felony sexual assault. In August 2020, Sipes was charged with additional felonies.
In addition to victim restitution, UCLA has made several changes to enhance safety and security, including implementing a new investigation model for sexual harassment/assault; improving the accompaniment policy and conducting training; notifying patients of reporting options; providing special training for UCLA medical facility personnel on sensitive boundary checks; enhancing the credentialing and recredentialing process and aligning it with UCLA’s medical needs; and staffing a compliance monitor to evaluate the implementation of the reforms.
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