Larry Nassar victim accuses MSU of pressuring her to accept a secret payoff

Michigan State University held a board meeting on Friday, and it devolved into chaos after Larry Nassar victim Kaylee Lorincz accused interim president John Engler of trying to buy her off to settle a civil lawsuit.

ESPN reported that Lorincz spoke at the MSU board meeting, and read a statement that elicited actual gasps from those in attendance. She detailed a conversation that had taken place between her and Engler — without her lawyer present — in which Engler offered her $250,000 to drop the civil suit.

Here’s a key quote from Lorincz’s statement:

“Mr. Engler then looked directly at me and asked, ‘Right now if I wrote you a check for $250,000 would you take it?’ 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.’”

Lorincz went on to say that she felt “bullied” by the conversation, especially after Engler mentioned that he’d had a similar conversation with another Nassar victim named Rachael Denhollander, and she’d given him a payoff number. Lorincz checked with Denhollander, who she said she’d never met Engler.

Lorincz wasn’t done reading her statement, but the MSU board was apparently done listening. A man said loudly “Kaylee, your time is up,” which caused a huge reaction from the room. The man continued to speak over Lorincz, and then the crowd started chanting “let her speak.” Lorincz would not cede the microphone until she was done reading her statement, which she did as police approached the podium and she was continually told her time was up.

Engler’s spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant was present at the meeting between Lorincz and Engler, and she told ESPN that she didn’t recall a dollar figure of any kind.

“My interpretation of the discussion was not that he was saying, ‘I’m offering you $250,000,'” she said. “It was a discussion about the civil litigation and how it was going on.”

Engler himself has yet to respond to Lorincz’s accusations.

Also during the board meeting, Engler announced the third-lowest tuition increase in 20 years, 2.97 percent. But not before “teasing” a much larger tuition hike to cover the costs of the many Larry Nassar lawsuits that have been brought against MSU.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @lizroscher

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