Additional Coverage:
Billionaire Leslie Wexner Ordered to Testify in OSU Doctor Abuse Lawsuit
Columbus, OH – In a significant win for former Ohio State University students, billionaire Leslie Wexner has been ordered to testify in a lawsuit alleging decades of sexual abuse by campus doctor Richard Strauss and a subsequent cover-up by the university. The ruling, issued Tuesday in the Southern District of Ohio, mandates Wexner’s deposition within 60 days.
Wexner, a former OSU board of trustees member, has been a central figure in the survivors’ quest for accountability. For months, former students, who claim Strauss abused them during physical examinations from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, have sought to compel Wexner’s testimony. Protests at the end of last year highlighted alleged attempts by Wexner’s security and legal team to avoid subpoena service, with demonstrators also drawing attention to Wexner’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Michael H.
Watson intervened in January, allowing for alternative service of the subpoena after initial difficulties. Wexner’s lawyers subsequently filed a motion to quash the subpoena, citing a “publicity campaign.”
However, Judge Watson denied the motion, stating, “Plaintiffs are entitled to discover what Mr. Wexner knew about Dr.
Strauss and when he knew it.”
Wexner has not been accused of wrongdoing in the Strauss case. An OSU investigation in 2019 concluded that “at least 177 male students were sexually abused by Strauss,” who died by suicide in 2005 and was never charged.
“I am happy that billionaires cannot buy their way out of the justice system,” commented Steve Snyder-Hill, a former OSU student and one of 236 men suing Ohio State for damages. Mike DiSabato, a former OSU wrestler and Strauss accuser who led the recent demonstrations, echoed this sentiment, adding, “Survivors deserve transparency, and meaningful answers are essential for justice.”
This isn’t the only legal challenge Wexner currently faces. His name has appeared in the “Epstein files,” and a 2019 document reportedly labeled him an “Epstein co-conspirator” by the FBI.
He has also been ordered by the House Oversight Committee to testify on February 18 regarding his ties to Epstein. Wexner’s legal representative stated Tuesday that a 2019 conversation with an Assistant U.S.
Attorney clarified Wexner was “neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect” and that he “cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again.” Wexner, founder of L Brands (which included Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works), has maintained he cut ties with Epstein after allegations of abuse surfaced, and denies knowledge of an alleged 1996 assault by Epstein at a property he owned.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who served as OSU’s assistant wrestling coach from 1986 to 1994 during the period of alleged abuse, was deposed in July by lawyers for the students.
Despite accusations from some former wrestlers, Jordan has consistently denied any knowledge of Strauss’s alleged predatory behavior. A spokesperson for Jordan reiterated that he “never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it.”
The spokesperson did not comment on whether Jordan intends to question Wexner at the House Oversight Committee hearing.