The lawsuit claimed FSU “concealed and obstructed the sexual assault investigation so that Mr. Winston could play football.”
Jameis Winston.
Jeff Gross / Getty Images
Florida State University has reached a $950,000 settlement with Erica Kinsman, the former student who accused quarterback Jameis Winston of sexual assault in 2012.
Kinsman, who filed the lawsuit under the name "Jane Doe," publicly identified herself in a 2015 documentary.
In her Title IX lawsuit, Kinsman asserted that FSU violated federal law by refusing to investigate and by covering up her allegations of a sexual assault on Dec. 7, 2012, as well as a second woman's report of sexual misconduct, by fellow student Jameis Winston. Kinsman claimed the FSU's actions were carried out so Winston could play football for more than two years afterwards.
Kinsman had told Tallahassee police that she was raped at an off-campus apartment, but did not know the identity of her alleged assailant until she was in class with Winston the next semester. Kinsman reported his identity to Tallahassee police, but their investigation did not lead to charges, and Winston was cleared of wrongdoing during a 2014 code of conduct hearing by Florida State.
Kinsman and Winston have pending lawsuits against each other in Florida. The university is also being investigated by the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
Kinsman's $950,000 settlement includes a five-year commitment from FSU to sexual assault awareness, prevention, and training programs. The school also agreed to increase transparency through publication of annual reports about its programs to deter and address campus sexual assault.
However, FSU did not admit to liability in the settlement, USA Today reported.
And in a statement, FSU President John Thrasher said the settlement was a financial decision.
"We have an obligation to our students, their parents and Florida taxpayers to deal with this case, as we do all litigation, in a financially responsible manner," he said. "With all the economic demands we face, at some point it doesn't make sense to continue even though we are convinced we would have prevailed."
Kinsman's attorneys called it the largest settlement of its kind for alleged Title IX discrimination or indifference to sexual assault.
FSUe announced that the former student is expected to receive $250,000 of the settlement and her attorneys will receive $700,000.
Kinsman, a Florida native who is now finishing her degree at a different university, said she hoped the settlement will also have lasting effects at the campus.
"I'll always be disappointed that I had to leave the school I dreamed of attending since I was little. I am happy that FSU has committed to continue making changes in order to ensure a safer environment for all students," she said in a statement. "My hope is that the federal investigation of my complaint by the Office of Civil Rights will produce even more positive change, not just at FSU, but across the country."
Winston, who left Florida State after three years to enter the NFL, recently finished his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Read the full statement from Kinsman's legal team here:
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