Ohio House majority leader admits bill to allow Strauss victims to sue Ohio State never intended to pass

Sarah Szilagy
Fri, 08 Oct 2021 19:44:39 +0000
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?Emails from the Ohio House majority leader show that H.B. 249, which would have waived the statute of limitations for Strauss victims to sue the university, was intended to apply pressure to the university to settle with victims and not intended to pass. Credit: Tom Hanks | Lantern Reporter

A bill to waive the statute of limitations for lawsuits filed by victims of former Ohio State physician Richard Strauss was never intended to pass, the Ohio House majority leader admitted in an email to a victim.

State Rep. Bill Seitz (R-OH-30) said House Bill 249 was “flawed” and that he would not support similar legislation in the future, according to emails obtained by The Lantern. He also expressed concern that making exceptions would usher in a “flood of similar demands” from other victims of sexual abuse who are barred from filing lawsuits due to the statute of limitations, such as those abused by church officials.

“HB 249 was intended to apply pressure to Ohio State to come to the table and make meaningful settlement offers,” Seitz said in an Oct. 1 email to Mike Schyck, a victim of Strauss’ sexual abuse. “It achieved its goal in that regard as very handsome settlements (sic) sums were offered by Ohio State to the claimants, and many claimants made the decision to accept the sums offered despite the expiration of the statute of limitations many decades before.”

Seitz’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

The statement comes less than three weeks after a federal judge dismissed all active Strauss-related lawsuits against Ohio State for exceeding the statute of limitations. It also comes more than a month after the end of the university’s Strauss Individual Settlement Program, in which about 50 victims agreed to end litigation in exchange for up to $252,511.

Schyck, an Ohio State wrestler from 1988-93 and assistant wrestling coach from 1993-96, said he felt deceived by the legislature’s previous push for H.B. 249. Schyck testified at two hearings for the bill held by the House Civil Justice Committee, and his parents testified on his behalf at a third.

“For us to get up there and do what we did and speak our truth, our testimony and something that happened to us, and to know that it was just falling on deaf ears — it really pisses me off,” Schyck said.

He said he rejects Seitz’ claim that H.B. 249 successfully pushed the university toward mediating in good faith.

Related: As deadline nears, Strauss victims seek accountability, not Ohio State’s settlement program

Ohio State offered more than 100 Strauss victims the opportunity to leave their lawsuits against the university and sign onto a settlement program that promised them a maximum of $252,511. But some victims saw the program — which was irrevocable and prevented victims from “disparaging” the university’s recent actions — not as a path toward justice but as a way to silence them.

(Read more)

Strauss was a physician at the university’s Student Wellness Center and the team doctor for 17 varsity sports from 1978-98. An independent investigation by law firm Perkins Coie found in May 2019 that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 students and student-athletes during his time at the university and Ohio State failed to act.

Strauss died by suicide in 2005. Since 2018, more than 300 men have joined lawsuits against the university for failing to address and prevent Strauss’ abuse.?

The university filed motions to dismiss every Strauss-related lawsuit for exceeding the statute of limitations.?

H.B. 249 was introduced in 2019 by Rep. Brett Hillyer (R-OH-98) and would have waived Ohio’s two-year statute of limitations on sexual abuse lawsuits for Strauss victims only. The Ohio House Civil Justice Committee held six hearings on the bill and heard testimony from more than a dozen proponents but never voted to move it to the House floor.

In 2020, the university settled with 185 victims for $46.7 million. Including those who signed onto the individual settlement program, the university has settled with more than 230 victims.?

Despite calling the university “negligent” in its handling of Strauss’ abuse, Seitz said in the email that the legislature has a “valid interest in maintaining statutes of limitation, particularly for civil damage claims.”

“Statutes of limitations exist for a very good reason,” Seitz said. “They encourage people to come forward while the events of which they complain are relatively fresh, while witnesses can be located, while the defendant can be apprehended, prior to the defendant’s death or incapacity, and at a time when evidence is less likely to disappear than it is when a suit is filed decades later.”

H.B. 249 wouldn’t have been the first time a state waived the statute of limitations for some sexual abuse victims. Michigan waived the statute of limitations for hundreds of victims of former Michigan State physician Larry Nassar. In 2019, the California legislature passed a bill to allow victims of former University of Southern California gynecologist George Tyndall to sue the university.

Michigan State settled with 332 victims for $425 million in 2018. In March, USC agreed to a $852 million settlement with 710 victims, bringing the university’s total settlement amount to more than $1.1 billion.

Schyck said he intends to “rally every victim” he can and to continue to call on legislators to change the law.

“I stuck my neck out and came out of being a John Doe back when I spoke in front of the Board of Trustees in 2018 because my coaches didn’t stand up for us; they still haven’t,” Schyck said. “People aren’t actively wanting to help, and so I wanted to be there for my teammates. I am more wrapped into this now — and want to fight — than I’ve ever been.”

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