USC Settles Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Brought by Gay and Bi Men
announced the settlement Thursday. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and neither USC nor Dr. Dennis Kelly admitted to any wrongdoing.The firm filed suit three years ago on behalf of six male USC graduates, all members of the LGBTQ+ community, who alleged that Kelly had engaged in sexual misconduct and discriminatory behavior during their appointments with him at the Los Angeles-based school’s Student Health Center.
Another 74 people eventually sued over the matter. Only four of the plaintiffs identified as heterosexual, the others being members of the queer community, including one transgender woman, attorney Mikayla Kellogg told the Los Angeles Times.The plaintiffs said Kelly’s misconduct centered on their sexual orientation (Kelly has denied all the accusations).
They claimed that when the doctor learned they had sex with men, he “asked a series of intrusive, prurient questions, such as how much pornography they consumed and whether they ‘hooked up’ with sexual partners online,” the Times reports.
They also said Kelly asked about their specific sexual practices and performed unnecessary rectal and genital examinations on them, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.Kellogg told the Times the university had received complaints about Kelly over his two decades at the USC clinic but continued to let him perform sensitive exams on students.Kelly, who is gay, retired from USC in 2019 and gave up his medical license in 2020.
