Ohio State settles with 279 students for $100M in sex abuse case

June 4 (UPI) -- The Ohio State University agreed to pay $100 million to former students who said a campus doctor sexually abused them.

The settlement was signed by all but one of the 280 people in the case. A court-appointed special master will interview each of the plaintiffs to determine the level of harm and how much settlement money they will get, NBC News reported. If divided equally by 279 people, that would give each plaintiff $358,423, before deducting attorneys' fees.

The students have accused Dr. Richard Strauss of sexually abusing them. They sued the university in 2018 alleging that it failed to protect them from form him from 1978 to 1998, when he worked in the campus health center and the athletic department. Strauss died by suicide in 2005.

A report released in 2019 found that several Ohio State staff were aware of the complaints as early as 1979, but they didn't stop it.

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The school settled with 317 other survivors for $61 million in February. It also settled with 162 students for $40 million in 2020.

University President Ravi Bellamkonda addressed the plaintiffs during a Wednesday board meeting.

"The survivors of the Strauss abuse are all Buckeyes, will always be part of our family and our community, and I firmly believe that," he said. "We continue to be very grateful to them for their courage in coming forward, and reaching a final resolution is very important to us and is an important step forward."

After the board agreed to the settlement, the university and the plaintiffs issued a joint statement.

"The university's Board of Trustees has now publicly ratified these agreements in principle, and all parties thank the mediators for their assistance," the statement said. "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."

Details about individual cases are not being released as mediation efforts are under a federal court order, The Hill reported Board Chair John Zeiger said.

"It is important that we respect the court's order and comply with the mediator's directive to keep confidentiality in place for now, but we will provide additional information on this resolution when we are in a position to do so," Zeiger said.

A former OSU wrestler Mike DiSabato came forward in 2018 alleging that Strauss sexually abused him and hundreds of other male athletes.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was one of the former coaches DiSabato and other former OSU wrestlers accused of having done nothing to stop Strauss. Jordan was an OSU assistant wrestling coach from 1986 to 1994.

Jordan has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the allegations.