Black victims of U-Michigan doc seek equity in settlements

NOVI, Mich. — Dwight Hicks left New Jersey as a teenager, seeking to take a step toward his NFL dreams by playing football at the University of Michigan. They say victims should receive compensation “based on their trauma rather than based on their color.” “I’m here today speaking for people that could not speak for themselves, that feel ashamed, but it’s about not being silent,” Hicks said Wednesday following a news conference at a hotel in the Detroit suburb of Novi. “As plaintiff trial lawyers, we are familiar with the prejudices that jurors have against plaintiffs, especially plaintiffs that are minority men,” said Stinar, whose firm represents more than 100 clients with claims against Anderson. “Historically, Black men receive the lowest verdict or settlement awards, especially compared to white men and women.” Anderson worked at the university from the mid-1960s through 2003. “The practice of forensic economists using race, gender or ethnicity to calculate civil damages really hurts communities of color and women because historically they have been paid less because of structural and systemic discrimination in the workplace,” said Dariely Rodriguez, director of the Economic Justice Project of the Lawyers’ Committee and the report’s co-author.