Former Ohio State University Athletic Director Andy Geiger was deposed July 16 as part of a federal lawsuit related to the Dr. Richard Strauss sex abuse scandal at the university.
Geiger, who oversaw Ohio State’s athletics department from 1994 to 2005, was deposed in Washington, where he currently lives, according to court documents filed July 17 in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Ohio.
Depositions are underway after years of appeals in the cases brought by former athletes against Ohio State regarding alleged abuse by Strauss, seven years after initial lawsuits were filed against the university.
Plaintiffs in five cases jointly deposed Geiger, according to the filing. Some of the counsel for the parties appeared by Zoom, and any client who wished to attend a deposition joined remotely from their attorney’s physical office.
According to the court filing, a client who watched the deposition in their attorney’s office informed another client about the deposition, unbeknownst to lawyers. Both of those clients then shared information about Geiger’s testimony with NBC4, which reported on the deposition Wednesday evening.
Citing unnamed sources, NBC4 also reported that Rep. Jim Jordan, an Urbana Republican who wrestled at the University of Wisconsin and previously served as an Ohio State assistant wrestling coach, would also be deposed on July 18.
Multiple former Ohio State wrestlers have accused Jordan over the years of knowing about Strauss’ continued abuse. Jordan has maintained he did not know about Strauss’ actions.
A spokesperson for Jordan did not answer whether the congressman would be deposed, saying only, “As everyone knows, Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it.”
Strauss was hired by Ohio State in September 1978 as an assistant professor in the college of medicine. Investigators found that university officials began receiving complaints and had knowledge of Strauss’ misconduct as early as 1979, months after he arrived.
Strauss’ abuse went on for years and ranged from subtle acts under the pretext of medical purpose to more-overt actions. He fondled patients’ genitals and conducted genital or rectal exams even when they weren’t medically necessary. A recently released documentary called “Surviving Ohio State” chronicles the abuse and accuses Ohio State of trying to cover up the scandal and of underpaying survivors with whom the university has settled.
An independent investigative report released by Ohio State University in May 2019 said Strauss sexually abused at least 177 students throughout his 20-year tenure as an athletics and student health doctor at the school. Strauss died by suicide in 2005, more than a decade before Ohio State would begin publicly investigating his abuses.
Attorneys apologized to the court for the leak about Geiger’s deposition and wrote that clients will no longer be allowed to view depositions over Zoom. Clients who wish to participate in depositions moving forward will have to attend in person and sign a non-disclosure agreement.
“This plainly should never have happened. It is unacceptable,” the filing read.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will Jim Jordan be deposed in Strauss abuse case? Attorneys apologize after details leak
Reporting by Sheridan Hendrix, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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