The Title IX lawsuit between Florida State and the woman who accused Jameis Winston of rape in 2012 has been settled, as announced on Monday afternoon. The USA Today first broke the story, and the school has agreed to pay Erica Kinsman, Winston's accuser, $950,000 as part of the settlement.
The amount agreed includes attorney's fees, in addition to a five-year commitment by the school to awareness, prevention and training programs. According to the USA Today, lump sum is the largest settlement for Title IX claims regarding indifference to a student's sexual assault.
"I will always be disappointed that I had to leave the school I dreamed of attending since I was little," Kinsman said in a statement via the USA Today. "I am happy that FSU has committed to continue making changes in order to ensure a safer environment for all students."
The settlement will not have an effect on the current ongoing Title IX investigation by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Kinsman filed a complaint in early 2014 and it opened an investigation in April 2014. As part of the complaint, Kinsman alleged FSU was "deliberately indifferent" to her reported sexual assault and that its response was "clearly unreasonable."
Florida State school president John Thrasher also released a statement after the settlement was announced.
"Although 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. We 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 Justice Major Harding's findings in the student conduct hearing," Thrasher said via Rivals.com.
Winston was accused of raping Kinsman back in 2012, but the case became public during Winston and Florida State's National Title season in 2013. Winston was never criminally charged for the alleged crime, and he was not found responsible of sexual misconduct following a FSU student conduct hearing in December 2014.
Winston has vehemently denied the accusations.
