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STEVE SNYDER-HILL; RONALD MCDANIEL; DAVID
MULVIN; WILLIAM BROWN; KURT HUNTSINGER;
WILLIAM RIEFFER; STEVE HATCH; KELLY REED;
MELVIN ROBINSON; DOUGLAS WELLS; JAMES KHALIL;
JERROLD L. SOLOMON; JOSEPH BECHTEL; MICHAEL
MURPHY; JOHN DAVID FALER; MATT MCCOY; GARY
AVIS; ROBERT SCHRINER; MICHAEL MONTGOMERY;
JOHN DOES 1–22, 25, 27, 29–37, 39–47, 49, 52, 54, 56–
60, 62–64, and 66–77 (21-3981); TIMOTHY MOXLEY;
RYAN CALLAHAN; JOHN JACKSON, JR.; JAMES
CARROLL; JEFFREY ROHDE; PATRICK MURRAY;
EVERETT ROSS; JOHN DOES 78–95 and 97–105 (21-
3991),
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY,
Defendant-Appellee. |
Nos. 21-3981/3991 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Columbus.
Nos. 2:18-cv-00736 (21-3981); 2:21-cv-03838 (21-3991)—Michael H. Watson, District Judge.
Argued: July 26, 2022
Decided and Filed: September 14, 2022
Before: GUY, MOORE, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. In his role as university physician and
athletic team doctor at the Ohio State University, Dr. Richard Strauss allegedly abused hundreds
of young men under the guise of performing medical examinations. The abuse occurred between
1978 and 1998, but it did not become public until 2018. After the allegations became public,
survivors of this abuse—including the plaintiffs in these cases—brought Title IX suits against
Ohio State, alleging that Ohio State was deliberately indifferent to their heightened risk of abuse.
The district court found that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the statute of limitations.
The district court erred. The plaintiffs adequately allege that they did not know and could
not reasonably have known that Ohio State injured them until 2018. Thus, at the motion-to-dismiss stage, we cannot say that their claims accrued before then. We REVERSE and
REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
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