Ohio State Moves to Dismiss Claims Predating 1986 Law in Strauss Abuse Lawsuits

Ohio State University has filed a motion to dismiss about a third of the remaining claims in lawsuits brought by former students who allege they were sexually abused by campus doctor Richard Strauss. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wrote the motion on behalf of the university and filed it Sunday in the Southern District of Ohio.

Yost argued that 43 cases should be dismissed in whole because the alleged abuse happened before Oct.

21, 1986, when Congress passed a law allowing states and educational institutions to be sued in federal court for failing to prevent sex abuse of students. Another 34 cases should be dismissed in part because some alleged incidents occurred prior to that date, Yost stated in the filing. Incidents that happened after Oct.

21, 1986, could remain part of the lawsuits. The 77 claims being sought for dismissal are part of five active federal lawsuits in the Southern District of Ohio from 236 men alleging Strauss abused them. The motion was filed just days after 30 former Buckeye football players, including more than a dozen who went on to play in the NFL, signed engagement letters to join the class action lawsuit last week.

Steve Snyder-Hill, a former OSU student currently suing Ohio State for damages, said some of those former football players could be barred from the federal class action because some allegations pre-date October 1986. Yost, who announced last week that he was stepping down as Attorney General eight months before the end of his term, also seeks to dismiss the case of Leo DiSabato, a former OSU wrestler and older brother of whistleblower Mike DiSabato.

“I’m incredibly proud of my older brother, Leo, for the courage he has shown,” Mike DiSabato said in a statement.

Legal experts said the university may have grounds to remove claims predating the 1986 law. “Each allegation of abuse is treated individually and if the allegations pre-date October 21, 1986 an argument can be made that they should be dismissed from the case,” NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos said. ” Ohio State responded that it has already settled with a majority of survivors.

As of April 15, the school has settled with 317 survivors, including some former football players, for more than $61 million, OSU spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said. Both OSU and its former president publicly apologized to each person who endured abuse at the hands of Strauss, who died by suicide in 2005.

Ohio State has been battling Strauss-related lawsuits since 2018, when Mike DiSabato came forward with allegations that Strauss sexually abused him and hundreds of other male athletes.

OSU hired Perkins Coie to conduct an independent investigation. The Perkins Coie report concluded in May 2019 that Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male athletes and students from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s. The report also concluded that coaches and administrators knew about the abuse for two decades but failed to stop Strauss.

One former coach accused by DiSabato and other wrestlers of failing to intervene was Rep. Jim Jordan, who was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1986 to 1994. Jim Jordan has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Strauss’s alleged abuse and is not named in the Perkins Coie report.

OSU athletic director Andy Geiger testified under oath that Jordan “probably knew” that Strauss was abusing the wrestlers. Jordan has been deposed as part of the remaining lawsuits against OSU; his testimony remains under seal. Nbc News reported the details of the motion, the timing relative to the new plaintiffs, the specific numbers of cases targeted for dismissal, and the university’s settlement totals.