Victims and their attorneys have until Sunday to request Judge Michael Watson’s recusal from hearing the cases after he failed to disclose his wife’s licensing agreement with Ohio State to sell flags. Credit: Dispatch file photo/Dispatch via TNS
The federal judge presiding over lawsuits against Ohio State filed by victims of former university physician Richard Strauss failed to disclose his wife’s licensing agreement with the university to sell Ohio State flags until a Thursday conference call with victims’ attorneys.
Judge Michael Watson told attorneys Thursday that his wife pays royalties to the university to sell flags at her store, The Flag Lady’s Flag Store in Clintonville, after taking over the business from her mother in 2017, according to an official transcript of the phone call obtained by The Lantern. In a court filing Tuesday, attorneys for the victims asked the court to delay a scheduled hearing until after the issue of Watson’s recusal is resolved. Victims and their attorneys have until Sunday to request Watson’s recusal from hearing the cases.
“Neither my wife nor I have a financial interest in the Ohio State University as defined by the Code of Conduct for United States Judges or as described in the advisory ethics opinions interpreting the code,” Watson said in the phone call. “Therefore, my wife’s business dealings with the university do not ethically mandate my recusal from cases involving the university.”
Watson said he scheduled the phone call after being asked by an NBC reporter about his wife’s licensing agreement, according to the transcript.
As a non-apparel licensee, Lori Leavitt Watson pays the university a 12- percent royalty on all items with Ohio State insignia. University spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email Leavitt Watson is one of 400 businesses with such licenses, which are reviewed monthly and renewed annually.
Johnson said The Flag Lady’s Flag Store has been a licensee for “decades” and the university bought less than $16,000 worth of merchandise from the business in fiscal year 2021.
“Separate from any licensing agreements, Ohio State purchases products and services from approximately 34,000 vendors around the world, including the Flag Lady’s Flag Store,” Johnson said. “The university is proud to support many local businesses.”
In 2019, Watson disclosed his status as an adjunct professor at Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law. No parties requested his recusal at the time of that disclosure, according to the transcript.
In court filings Tuesday, attorneys for some Strauss victims filed a motion to delay oral arguments scheduled for September 21 on the statute of limitations of the lawsuits. The motion states one or more victims will be asking for Watson’s recusal by the Sunday deadline — two days before oral arguments are set to occur.
“It would be improper (or, at a minimum, create the appearance of impropriety) for the Court to hold oral argument while the Court is considering a pending recusal motion,” the motion stated. “In addition, should the Court grant a motion to recuse, it will plainly not decide any of the motions to dismiss, nor hear oral argument on those motions.”
Strauss was a physician at the university’s Student Wellness Center and the team doctor for 17 varsity sports from 1978-98. An independent May 2019 investigation found that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 students and student-athletes during his time at the university and that Ohio State failed to act.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005.
Ohio’s law limits civil cases related to sexual assault to be filed within two years of the incident.
Since 2018, the university has filed motions to dismiss all active lawsuits brought forth by Strauss victims for exceeding the statute of limitations.
Legislation to make an exception to the law for Strauss victims was introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives in 2019 but stalled in committee.
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