COLUMBUS – A Columbus lawyer representing several former Ohio State University students is preparing a federal complaint that accuses the university of ignoring complaints of sexual misconduct by a former physician.
“It appears from what we can find so far that they may have even insulated Dr. Strauss. After complaints came in, they were no acted upon and Dr. Strauss was most likely emboldened to continue in the conduct of sexually abusing student and student-athletes.” -Scott Smith, attorney
Scott Smith, who represents more than 10 clients, mostly former athletes, says his lawsuit will allege that Ohio State officials were made aware of complaints of misconduct by Dr. Richard Strauss and took no action, allowing the doctor to continue to the behavior for some two decades.
“It appears from what we can find so far that they may have even insulated Dr. Strauss,” Smith said. “After complaints came in, they were no acted upon and Dr. Strauss was most likely emboldened to continue in the conduct of sexually abusing student and student-athletes.”
Smith says he is preparing a complaint citing the university violated equal-protection and due-process sections of federal anti-discrimination law. The complaint seeks to require the university to change policies and procedures to prevent complaints going unanswered in the future:
“How they treat young student-athletes and students, how they are treated by the medical staff, to make sure that there is no sexual misconduct that ever occurs again,” Smith said.
Students, including at least one of Smith’s clients, describe unnecessary examinations of genitalia and other examples of inappropriate touching and comments made by Strauss, who committed suicide in 2005.
Independent investigators are reviewing allegations against Strauss involving male athletes from 14 sports and other students and the university announced Friday that more than 100 former students have provided firsthand accounts of the misconduct, some going back to 1978.
Ohio State has said university officials’ response to concerns about Strauss is a key focus of the investigation.