It is an attempt to hold the government accountable for assaults that occurred after July 15, 2015. The Justice Department's inspector general concluded that the FBI made critical mistakes when it learned of Nassar's allegations that year.
Nassar worked as a sports doctor at Michigan State University as well as for USA Gymnastics. He is serving a life sentence in prison for assaulting female athletes, including Olympic gymnasts.
"This was not a case involving fake $20 bills or tax evasion," attorney Jamie White explained. "These were allegations of a serial rapist known to the FBI as the Olympic United States doctor with unrestricted access to young women."
He went on to say that Nassar had been on a "reign of terror" for 17 unnecessary months.
In 2015, the Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics informed local FBI agents that three gymnasts claimed Nassar assaulted them. According to the inspector general's report, the FBI did not launch a formal investigation or notify federal or state authorities in Michigan.
According to the inspector general, FBI agents in Los Angeles launched a sexual tourism investigation against Nassar in 2016 and interviewed several victims, but they also failed to notify Michigan authorities.
"No one should have been assaulted after the summer of 2015 because the FBI should have done its job," Grace French, founder of The Army of Survivors, said. "Knowing that the FBI could have assisted in avoiding this trauma disgusts me."
White has not yet filed a lawsuit against the FBI. Tort claims must be filed with a government agency under federal law, which has six months to respond. Depending on the FBI's response, a lawsuit may be filed.
The FBI declined to comment on Thursday, instead referring to Director Christopher Wray's remarks to Congress about how the situation was handled poorly.
"I'm sorry that so many different people let you down, over and over," Wray said to victims during a Senate hearing last year. "I'm especially sorry that people at the FBI had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015, but they failed." That is unforgivable. It should never have happened."
White claims that more than 100 women were assaulted after July 2015, and he anticipates that other attorneys will file claims against the FBI. Nassar was arrested in November 2016 during a Michigan State University police investigation.
The assault charges against Nassar were eventually handled by the Michigan Attorney General's Office, while federal prosecutors in Grand Rapids, Michigan, filed a child pornography case.
White referred to the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The FBI received a tip about five weeks before the school shooting, but it was never forwarded to the FBI's South Florida office. The government has agreed to pay $127.5 million to the families of those killed or injured in the attack.
Michigan State University, which was also accused of ignoring opportunities to stop Nassar for many years, agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 women and girls who were assaulted. A $380 million settlement was reached between USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.