Earlier this month, an attorney preparing a lawsuit against Ohio State said that most of his four dozen-plus male clients allegedly victimized by former Buckeye team Dr. Richard Strauss were former OSU football players. A couple of weeks later, a significant chunk of those alleged victims took the next step toward making their case in court.
Thirty-seven former Ohio State athletes, including over two dozen football players, the Associated Press wrote, “have filed a new lawsuit alleging the university disregarded concerns about a team doctor who sexually abused young men for years.” It’s alleged in the suit that Strauss, the university’s former sports medicine director who was employed by the school from 1979-97, sexually assaulted the victims, all men, when they were being treated for injuries or administered sports physicals.
The Title IX suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, and the attorney of record expects this suit to be rolled into three others that have already been filed against the university.
Other than former OSU wrestler Mike DiSabato, who originally alerted university officials to the allegations involving Strauss in March of last year, no other plaintiffs were listed by name in this latest suit and were instead collectively referred to as John Does. In addition to football players (26) and wrestlers (seven), male athletes in sports ranging from gymnastics to swimming to volleyball are included in the lawsuit.
It is alleged in the suit that OSU officials “dismissed, disregarded, minimized, refuted, denied, silenced, and even concealed complaints about Strauss’ sexual misconduct.” From SI.com:According to the lawsuit, multiple football players [complained] about Strauss’s behavior to former team trainer Bill Hill, who did not tell athletes that the doctor’s behavior was improper. Other personnel also brushed off complaints about Strauss.
“While precise responses differed, the gist was almost always the same: it was not a big deal. Strauss did things his way; Strauss was just being thorough; this had gone on for years. Other benign explanations were offered. Some Plaintiffs came to believe that Strauss’ examinations were a necessary part of their participation in intercollegiate athletics that was like a “hazing,” the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, students and OSU staffers complained about Strauss’s behavior as early as 1979. Athletic department personnel knew Strauss showered with teams, performed long genital examinations on athletes and refused to let a third person sit in on the exams.Strauss committed suicide in 2005.