The university board of trustees has voted to settle with 279 of 280 remaining plaintiffs in ongoing Strauss lawsuit. Credit: Christian Harsa | Lantern File Photo.
The Ohio State University board of trustees voted to settle with the remaining plaintiffs in the ongoing Richard Strauss lawsuit, and will pay $100 million to end the years-long case.
The resolution was added to the agenda before the meeting on June 3, and is speculated to be the final settlement in the suit, which was originally opened in 2018, according to a university website.
“Ohio State and 279 of the 280 individual remaining Richard Strauss survivors involved in the pending litigation have reached settlements in principle in a total amount of $100 million,” according to a joint statement released by the university and plaintiffs. “The university’s Board of Trustees has now publicly ratified these agreements in principle, and all parties thank the mediators for their assistance. The mediation and its confidentiality are continuing as the parties work to finalize the details of the settlements, and additional information will be shared as appropriate.”
Details of the settlement are confidential and cannot be shared until the settlement agreements are finalized, board chair John Zeiger said during the meeting.
“The members of the public and others will, no doubt, have questions about this substantial development,” Zeiger said. “It is important that we respect the court’s order and comply with the mediator’s directive to keep confidentiality in place for now.”
Ohio State had settled with more than half of the plaintiffs, with a total of $61 million being awarded to 317 survivors since March 2020. The university also settled with an additional dozen survivors in April.?
University President Ravi Bellamkonda said at the meeting that the Strauss survivors will always be a part of the Buckeye family and community.
“We continue to be very grateful to them for their courage in coming forward, and reaching a final resolution is very important to us and is an important step forward,” Bellamkonda said.
Steve Snyder-Hill, a survivor who attended the university from 1991-2000 and had a lawsuit in the investigation, said that he cannot comment until the process finishes.
Perkins Coie, a law firm hired by the university in 2018 to conduct an independent investigation, determined that Strauss abused at least 177 students, mostly male athletes, during his employment at the university from 1978-98, per prior Lantern reporting. Perkins Coie conducted 520 interviews with former students, athletes, employees and other individuals over the course of its year-long investigation.?
Strauss died by suicide in 2005.
While the university reached the settlement of $100 million, universities with similar sexual abuse cases have reached larger settlements.
Michigan State paid $500 million to survivors of Larry Nassar, the university’s team doctor for the women’s gymnastics team, in 2018. Similarly, the University of California had a $1 billion payout to victims of Dr. George Tyndall in 2021. The University of Michigan offered $490 million in settlements to survivors of Robert Anderson in 2022, per prior Lantern reporting.
It is unknown when the settlements will be finalized and details will remain confidential until then.
