Kaylee Lorincz (Facebook photo)
Update: 7:39 Thursday -- A top aide to Michigan State University Interim President John Engler offered an apology Wednesday, hours after the Free Press published a private e-mail to board members in which she criticized Larry Nassar's survivors, the paper reports.
"I offer my sincerest and most heartfelt apology for the letter I sent to MSU leaders after the Board meeting," Carol Viventi's statement said. Viventi is vice president and special counsel to Engler. "I did not think about how my words would make the survivors feel. What the survivors of Larry Nassar have been through should not be experienced by anyone, and I’m sorry my words added to their pain."
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Report From Wednesday Afternoon
Turning to a Trump-like defense, an adviser to Michigan State University interim President John Engler called a claim by one of Larry Nassar's survivors "fake news."
The claim was made in an email sent over the weekend to the MSU Board of Trustees in response to Kaylee Lorincz, a Nassar survivor who claimed Engler offered her $250,000 to settle her lawsuit against the university in a meeting where Lorincz' attorney was not present, reports David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press.
"Kaylee's statements to the board contained many false and inaccurate statements, which we did not publicly contradict out of an abundance of concern for the survivors who are quick to claim 'revictimization' or 'shaming' of survivors whenever they are falsely accusing members of the MSU community," the e-mail from Carol Viventi, vice president and special counsel to Engler, said.
Lorincz is one of the more than 200 people suing MSU over Nassar's sexual abuse scandal.
The Freep writes:
"Mr. Engler then looked directly at me and asked, 'Right now, if I wrote you a check for $250,000, would you take it?'" Lorincz said. "When I explained that it’s not about the money for me and that I just want to help, he said, 'Well, give me a number.'
MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant was in the meeting with Engler. In a conversation with Lisa Lorincz in the crowded board room after the meeting Friday, Guerrant said her interpretation had been that Engler wasn't directly offering a settlement but engaging in a “philosophical discussion” about what amount would be acceptable.
