FSU to pay nearly $1 million to settle Erica Kinsman lawsuit

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Florida State UniversityĀ has agreed to pay $250,000 to the former student whoĀ alleged that then-Seminoles quarterbackĀ Jameis WinstonĀ raped her in December 2012.

The university announced the move in a statement, released Monday, that was quick to note the school was also payingĀ Erica Kinsmanā€˜s lawyersĀ $700,000.

Among her legal counsel, she is represented by Orlando attorneyĀ David B. King, who also successfully represented the plaintiffs in litigation against the state over congressional and state Senate redistricting.

She claimed the school violatedĀ Title IX, the law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at schools that accept federal dollars. Kinsman said FSU didnā€™t properly investigate her rape complaint against Winston; he has denied assaulting her.

In return for the settlement, Kinsman will drop her lawsuit against the public university.

Winston, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, filed his own defamation suit against Kinsman in federal court, saying her ā€œfalse statements have irreparably harmed him in his professional and personal life.ā€ That case still is pending.

ā€œAlthough 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,ā€ FSU PresidentĀ John ThrasherĀ said.

ā€œWe 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 JusticeĀ Major Hardingā€™s findings in the student conduct hearing,ā€ he added.

Thrasher also referred to ā€œrampant misinformation and speculation surrounding this caseā€ by saying the school ā€œremains committed to making our campus safe for all students and our school free of sexual harassment and sexual assault. As Iā€™ve said before, one sexual assault against or committed by an FSU student is one too many.ā€

The university statement listed several initiativesĀ to make its campus safer, including forming a sexual assault prevention task group, creating aĀ kNOw moreĀ campaign, and hiring attorney/social workerĀ Jennifer Broomfield, ā€œa highly qualified expert in interpersonal violence,ā€ to serve as FSUā€™s full-time Title IX Coordinator.

ā€œThere should be no doubt that Florida State is serious about fighting sexual assault,ā€ Thrasher said.

Before joining Florida Politics, journalist and attorney James Rosica was state government reporter for The Tampa Tribune. He attended journalism school in Washington, D.C., working at dailies and weekly papers in Philadelphia after graduation. Rosica joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1997, later moving to the courts beat, where he reported on the 2000 presidential recount. In 2005, Rosica left journalism to attend law school in Philadelphia, afterwards working part time for a public-interest law firm. Returning to writing, he covered three legislative sessions in Tallahassee for The Associated Press, before joining the Tribuneā€™s re-opened Tallahassee bureau in 2013. He can be reached at [email protected].