Case brief
Twenty years, a delayed response
Richard Strauss treated Ohio State students and student-athletes between 1978 and 1998. The university commissioned an outside investigation after a former athlete reported abuse in 2018. Investigators concluded that Strauss had sexually abused at least 177 male student-patients. Forty-eight reporting students were affiliated with wrestling; the report also identified students across other sports and student health.
Investigators found that university personnel knew of complaints or concerns as early as 1979, but the concerns were not elevated beyond athletics or student health until 1996. After a student-health complaint that year, Ohio State suspended Strauss from clinical care. He remained a tenured faculty member until retirement in 1998. Ohio State has acknowledged that it failed to prevent the abuse and apologized.
The later litigation
Survivors filed multiple federal suits. In 2022 the Sixth Circuit reversed a limitations dismissal at the pleading stage, permitting certain claims to proceed. It did not decide liability. Ohio State reported earlier settlements with 317 people for more than $61 million. In June 2026 it and plaintiffs’ counsel announced a further $100 million agreement in principle with 279 of 280 then-remaining litigants; final details were still under mediation in the joint statement.
In May 2026, counsel said 30 former football players signed letters to join existing litigation. The currently reviewed records do not establish their individual filing status or whether they are included among the 279. Specific allegations about coaches are attributed to the people who made them, accompanied by responses, and remain outside the approved graph.
Read the full investigation report ↗ · Read the May 2026 plaintiffs’ brief ↗