Settlement in FSU case

Breaking news: FSU will pay Erica Kinsman just under $1million to settle the lawsuit she brought against her former institution in the wake of their mishandling of her rape allegations against former quarterback Jameis Winston.

FSU had dug its heels in deep in the case, making repeated remarks to the media about how they had done everything according to the book, despite glaring evidence to the contrary. So I am somewhat surprised by the settlement--and somewhat not so surprised. A trial would have drawn more attention and potentially turned public opinion against the university which still remains very popular in the eyes of fans and alumni. I believe the evidence that would have been brought out at trial would have made them look horrible. Their initial lack of response to Kinsman and the more-than-a-year-late conduct board hearing which was handled so poorly could not have been overlooked.

In the settlement FSU admits no wrongdoing, though most of us know that $950,000 is a pretty hefty sum for an innocent entity. But this way those who vilified Kinsman, (the harassment she experienced was one of the reasons she withdrew from her dream school) can continue to say that nothing was ever proven and that the university simply had to pay her off or incur even more costs to defend themselves. This narrative is somewhat frustrating. Though there are further legal actions pending against Winston.

FSU is still maintaining that they would have won in a trial. This statement from President John Thrasher is particularly infuriating:
Although we regret we will never be able to tell our full story in court, it is apparent that a trial many months from now would have left FSU fighting over the past rather than looking toward its very bright future. We have decided to instead move forward even though we have full faith that the ultimate outcome of a trial would have been consistent with the previous law enforcement investigations and retired Supreme Court Justice Major Harding’s findings in the student conduct hearing.

I am not going to go back to rehash the student conduct hearing. I will just remind readers that it was somewhat of a comedy of errors--but not funny in the least. Whatever Harding's credentials as a judge, his expertise did not extend to overseeing and judging a student conduct hearing.

FSU was correct about the costs of litigation. Only $250,000 of the settlement is going to Kinsman. The rest covers her legal costs.
CORRECTION: New sources have emerged since this story broke, and I posted that this was breakdown of the settlement. The statement was from FSU. But the division of the settlement is to be determined between Kinsman and her legal team, who say that the $700,000 is what FSU determined legal costs to be but is not reality.


What else has this cost FSU? As part of the settlement,  FSU has committed to five years of of sexual assault awareness, prevention and training programs. Curious. Not sure what will happen after five years. These things are basically required anyway. There will be annual reports discussing these programs in an effort in "increase transparency." The latter has been an issue. One astounding fact that would have been brought up at trial is the statement from the former director of the Victim Advocate Office claiming that of the 113 reports of sexual battery to their office in 2014, the university reported only 9 to the federal government (Clery Act violation). This may be an issue, though, when OCR does its investigation. The university still has to contend with that.