BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU paid $1.9 million to rape and sexual misconduct survivors in March after accusations by 10 former students that the school's Title IX office failed to respond to their claims, including those against rape allegations against football player Derrius Guice.
According to NOLA.com on Thursday, LSU did not admit wrongdoing in the case despite the million-dollar settlement, signed by President William Tate on March 27.
Ten former students were involved in the lawsuit, two of which had cases against football star Derrius Guice, accusing the former LSU running-back of raping them in 2016.
"Many of the plaintiffs were unable to ever make their reports to LSU's Office of the Title IX Coordinator because LSU employees discouraged or even overtly prevented them from doing so," accusers said in their court filings. "The few plaintiffs who were able to attempt to file complaints with the Title IX Office were ignored and their complaints were not appropriately investigated or addressed."
Former LSU tennis star Jade Lewis was another plaintiff, with LSU football player Drake Davis had plead guilty to battery for beating Lewis in 2017 and 2018.
Lewis said that LSU had looked away from her case also.
In their arguments, LSU's lawyers denied that these claims had not been looked into sufficiently.
"Title IX does not require flawless investigations or perfect solutions," LSU lawyers said. "The school's response, or lack thereof, must be 'clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances.'"
LSU had settled Title IX lawsuits in the past but none with as large a payout as March's settlement. In 2001, three former women's soccer players soccer were each paid $37,500, with a federal judge ruling that LSU violated Title IX with, "arrogant ignorance."
Similarly, a 2000 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2000 that LSU, "persisted in a systemic, intentional and differential treatment of women.
Guice, who later played in the NFL in Washington, D.C. previously reached agreements with other women who accused him of assault. In 2021, the running-back reached an agreement with a woman in Virginia after after Guice was charged with three counts of assault and battery and one count of destruction of property.
In a joint statement, Guice and the woman, who had reportedly been a former girlfriend said they “both worked hard toward a resolution of their relationship” and they they each wish the other well in the future.
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