The U.S. Department of Justice released a statement Tuesday reaching a $1.6 million agreement with San Jose State to remedy Title IX violations in which more than 23 female swimming and diving student-athletes reported incidents of sexual harassment, including sexual assault, by former sports medicine director Scott Shaw.
The agreement requires SJSU to financially compensate those who were sexually harassed and/or assaulted by Shaw, and those who came forward to participate in the Justice Department’s Title IX investigation or SJSU’s internal investigations.
In the past 12 years, SJSU swimming and diving student-athletes reported Shaw subjected them to repeated inappropriate touching and sexual harassment during physical therapy sessions, according to the same Tuesday statement.
The Justice Department offered $125,000 to the 23 individuals, which will be paid by the university, according to the SJSU For Your Information (FYI) webpage.
The FYI webpage details the university’s statements regarding Shaw’s reinvestigation.
Out of the 23 individuals, 13 have accepted the offer so far, according to the same FYI page.
Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU director of media relations, said payments under the resolution agreement won’t come from student fees or affect funding for employment.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in the same Justice Department statement the agreement will also require SJSU to “transform its Title IX process to ensure accountability in its athletics program and create a safer campus for all students.”
The agreement’s requirements include improving Title IX policies and procedures and SJSU’s process for responding to complaints of sexual harassment.
Hannah Dettmann, freshman swimming and diving athlete, said while she agrees with the proposed improvement of the Title IX office, she has hesitation about the current resolution.
“If they’re just trying to pay [victims] off then I think that might be the wrong way to go about it,” Dettmann said. “I think getting everyone out who had power in that situation is the top priority.”
The Justice Department found that “SJSU failed for more than a decade” to respond adequately to the sexual misconduct allegations against Shaw, according to the same Tuesday statement.
After reports of sexual misconduct by Shaw began in 2009, SJSU’s Human Resources department and the University Police Department conducted initial investigations in 2009-10, which determined “there was no wrongdoing” by Shaw and the sexual assault claims were unsubstantiated, according to the university’s summary of the investigation.
The initial investigation determined Shaw’s method of treatment was a “bona fide means of treating muscle injury,” according to the same summary.
In December 2019, SJSU President Mary Papazian launched an external Title IX investigation into Shaw’s conduct because of concerns that the findings from the 2009-10 investigation were inadequate, according to the same summary.
It was determined in the 2019-20 reinvestigation the sexual misconduct allegations were substantiated, according to the same summary.
The Justice Department findings furthers the university’s “need for answers” about the original 2009-10 investigation and the university’s response to the findings, according to the SJSU FYI webpage.
The Justice Department also found SJSU retaliated against two university athletics employees, one of whom “repeatedly alerted” university administrators of Shaw and a second employee who pointed out alleged retaliation against the first employee and was terminated by SJSU, according to its statement.
Mashinchi said allegations of retaliation are part of ongoing litigation and related investigations.
“The university does not typically comment on details of pending litigation or other complaints by or against employees (including complaints of retaliation),” Mashinchi said in an email.
Sage Hopkins, women’s swimming and diving head coach, filed a lawsuit in March against the California State University and SJSU administrators claiming he faced retaliation.
The lawsuit alleges that administrators, including former athletics director Marie Tuite, ignored reports regarding Shaw’s sexual assault cases, according to the 93-page court documents obtained by the Spartan Daily.
Former deputy athletic director Steve O’ Brien also filed a lawsuit in Aug. 2020 against the university after he was fired on March 2 of that same year by Tuite after resisting orders to discipline the whistleblower in Shaw’s case, according to Sept. 17, 2020 USA Today article.
President Papazian said in a Tuesday campuswide email the university is taking steps to build a “stronger Title IX program,” including expanding its Title IX office and adding new experts.
“The team, among others, will include an experienced Title IX and Gender Equity Officer (“Title IX coordinator”), responsible for overseeing compliance with, and implementation of, all Title IX-related policies, grievance procedures and training at SJSU,” Papazian stated.
The university Title IX department will also receive an increase in funding to recruit and hire a new Title IX coordinator and other qualified investigators, according to the same campuswide email.
SJSU implemented a new Wellbeing Attendant (chaperone) policy to ensure student-athletes and staff have the right to request the presence of a supervisor for any type of sports-medicine treatment.
Papazian said SJSU is launching programs focused on sexual assault prevention and resources for survivors, witnesses and bystanders.
According to the Justice Department statement, the department will monitor implementation of the agreement through the 2024-25 academic year, including the financial relief requirement totaling $1.6 million.
Hannah Dettmann said while the new programs and policies are “a step in the right direction” for the university, she still would like to see [the Title IX process] move faster.
“If the [Title IX] claim is not handled immediately then [the university] is not doing what they said they would do,” Dettmann said. “I’m going to need to see [cases] handled right then and there rather than [the Title IX process] taking 12 years.”
