The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed more survivors of former physician Richard Strauss to proceed with their lawsuits against Ohio State. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
More survivors of sexual abuse from former Ohio State physician Richard Strauss can move forward with their lawsuits against the university, according to a decision issued Wednesday by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The court reversed a May 2022 ruling which prevented survivors and their families from suing the university on the grounds that the clock for the statute of limitations — two years — had run out. In the court’s opinion, Judge Joan Larsen wrote the court could not decide the truth about when survivors should have known what Strauss did was abuse.
Larson wrote the evidence produced by the 2019 inquiry into Strauss’ behavior showed that university officials not only knew of his behavior, they concealed it from students and athletes for almost four decades, which was enough to warrant a lawsuit.
“Just when the plaintiffs knew or should have known that Strauss’ conduct was abuse, and when they knew or should have known about Ohio State’s role in causing their injuries are questions of fact that we cannot resolve on a motion to dismiss,” Larsen said in the decision.
These victims join over 100 others, many of whom were student-athletes, pursuing a Title IX lawsuit against the university for its handling of Strauss’ abuse.
The university indicated it would take that case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court receives approximately 7,000 petitions a year, according to its media guide. Of those, it only hears 100-150 cases. If the high court rejects the university’s request, the survivors will be able to move forward with their lawsuits.
Ohio State has until March 14 to file a petition with the Supreme Court, and at least four of its nine justices must vote to hear the case.
Scott Smith, an attorney for the survivors, said he was happy to see the court was “consistent” in its ruling
The court also reversed a previous decision to dismiss another lawsuit from survivors against Ohio State in September 2022, claiming the victims, many of whom were student-athletes, did not file their Title IX lawsuit against Ohio State within the two-year statute of limitations. This decision enabled the survivors to argue their case in court.
University spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email “the ruling speaks for itself.”
Strauss was a varsity team sports doctor and physician at the Student Health Center from 1978-98. An independent investigation in 2019 found that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 students and student-athletes during his tenure, and that university officials were aware of the abuse and failed to prevent or address it.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005.
The court did not rule that Judge Michael Watson, who originally dismissed the cases and is a lecturer in the Moritz College of Law, should recuse himself due to an affiliation with Ohio State, nor did it accept claims of retaliation from survivors.
In 2021, lawyers representing the survivors asked Watson to recuse himself and have the cases moved to the federal court in Cincinnati. According to court documents, survivors sought Watson’s recusal on the grounds of his service as a professor as well as his wife Lori Leavitt Watson’s business — The Flag Lady’s Flag Store in Columbus — holding a licensing agreement with the university to sell university-branded merchandise. The lawyers claimed this shows a “financial interest” with the university.
Larsen disagreed in her Wednesday decision, holding Michael Watson’s interest in Ohio State did not satisfy legal requirements for judicial recusal, and Ohio State only made up at most 0.89 percent of Lori Watson’s sales and has no impact on court proceedings.
Survivors asserted reporting Strauss’ abuse and the university’s failure to act was a protected activity under Title IX, and they alleged current and former university employees and affiliates retaliated against them through “public comments on the radio,” as well as in private communications, such as phone calls, emails and text messages.
Larsen rejected the claim, finding those comments were not considered official decisions by the university.
“An educational institution is responsible under Title IX only for its own official decisions,” Larsen said.
Since 2018, more than 500 victims of Strauss — nearly all men — have sued the university for failing to address Strauss’ abuse and harassment. Including the most recent settlements in July 2022, 296 victims have settled in exchange for dropping lawsuits against Ohio State for a total amount of $60 million.
The university established the Strauss Individual Settlement Program in 2020 to provide individual settlements to survivors involved in five open cases against Ohio State in exchange for dropping their lawsuits and claims.
