Ohio State University has reached a $100 million settlement with nearly 300 former college students who had accused the college’s campus physician of sexually assaulting them many years in the past, the college and a lawyer for the victims stated on Wednesday.
The settlement with 279 of the 280 former college students was ratified by the college’s board on Wednesday. It adopted years of litigation overaccusations of many years of abuse by Richard Strauss.
The abuse occurred from 1978 to 1998, the yr he retired from the school.
“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,” the college and a lawyer for the victims stated in a joint assertion.
In February, the college reached eight further settlements, bringing the whole to 304 survivors and greater than $60 million.
Strauss, who killed himself in 2005, was employed by Ohio State’s athletic division and medical workers for nearly 20 years.
A 2019 report detailing the investigative findings stated that Strauss had sexually abused at least 177 men, nearly all of whom have been college students, and that college workers who knew of the abuse did not act. The abuse included groping and fondling of the scholars’ genitals and different acts below the guise of a medical examination.
News of the investigation and its findings prompted greater than 500 plaintiffs to sue Ohio State, alleging that they had been sexually abused by Strauss and that the college had proven deliberate indifference.