Two Lawsuits Against Ohio State Keep Jim Jordan in the Cross Hairs

WASHINGTON — In a sign that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is unlikely to shake a sexual misconduct scandal anytime soon, five former wrestlers sued Ohio State University this week, accusing university officials of knowing that a team doctor was abusing student athletes and doing nothing to stop him.

One of the lawsuits specifically mentions Jordan, who served as the wrestling team’s assistant coach in the late 1980s and early 1990s, citing news reports that wrestlers had informed him of the abuse. Lawyers pursuing both cases say they expect to call the influential conservative as a witness.

Jordan has vehemently denied allegations that he ignored sexual misconduct, and so far he has maintained the backing of his party’s heavyweights, including President Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the Republican whip.

But the decision by the former athletes to sue the university means that more twists could come.

“Anyone who would have been in the chain of command” or an authority figure in the university’s athletic program is “certainly someone we’ll be interested in deposing,” said Joseph Sauder, an Ohio lawyer representing one of the former wrestlers.

Another lawyer, Stephen Estey, who has handled a number of sex abuse class-action lawsuits, said that his focus was more on the university and its failure to protect its students and less on Jordan. Still, he said, in the discovery and deposition process, “we’ll find out who knew what.”

A spokesman for Ohio State said in a statement that the university “remains actively committed to uncovering what may have happened and what university leaders at the time may have known,” and that officials “are deeply concerned for everyone who may have been affected” by the actions of the team doctor several decades ago.

Eight wrestlers have come forward and accused Jordan of turning a blind eye to the abuse of the team physician, Richard H. Strauss, who killed himself in 2005.

Jordan has maintained that he never saw or heard any reports of misconduct and has attacked some of the former wrestlers who have spoken out against him.

On Wednesday, his spokesman referred back to an earlier statement, saying that the congressman “will assist the investigation in any way they ask, because if what is alleged is true, the victims deserve a full investigation and justice.”

The lawsuits, filed on Tuesday, describe abuse that was widespread and often public. Strauss’ conduct is at the heart of a university investigation spanning 14 different sports teams and more than 150 athletes.

More Ohio State alumni — both former athletes and students — have come forward in recent days to say Strauss had abused them, Estey said, either as team doctor or at the university’s student health center. The lawyer said he expected an additional 20 to 25 plaintiffs to sign onto Tuesday’s class action.

Together, the lawsuits say that Ohio State officials received at least three complaints about Strauss from wrestlers: in 1978, after the captain of the wrestling team told a doctor at the university’s health center that Strauss had fondled him; in 1993, when a wrestler complained to the team’s head coach, Russ Hellickson; and in 1994, when two wrestlers confronted the university’s athletic director.

Ohio State officials “breached their duty to take reasonable protective measures to protect plaintiff and the class members from the risk of sexual harassment, molestation and abuse by Strauss, by failing to supervise and stop employees of defendants, including Strauss, from committing wrongful sexual acts with student-patients, including plaintiff and the class members,” one of the lawsuits states.

The lawsuit also cites a recent interview in which Hellickson told USA Today that he confronted Strauss and told him that he was making the athletes “uncomfortable” by showering with them. Hellickson said the doctor responded that the coach also showered with athletes.

“I said, ‘Not for an hour, Doc,’” Hellickson said.

Hellickson has maintained that he did not know Strauss was abusing athletes, and has defended Jordan’s role in the matter.

The lawsuit that mentions Jordan suggests that lawyers may name additional defendants once more is known about their role in the matter.

One of the lawsuits notes that many of the athletes competing for the university were afraid to complain because the university required that they receive physicals from Strauss before being allowed to compete. Many of those athletes were receiving scholarships.

The plaintiffs in both lawsuits seek unspecified damages, stating that the wrestlers “were prevented and will continue to be prevented from performing daily activities” and have incurred expenses for medical and psychological treatment as a result of the abuse.