San Jose State to pay $1.6 million to athletes over handling of sex abuse allegations

San Jose State University has agreed to pay $1.6 million to more than a dozen female athletes, part of a settlement with the Department of Justice that found that the university failed to properly handle the students’ allegations of sexual abuse by a former athletic trainer. According to the federal report, he is accused of touching athletes’ “breasts, groins, buttocks and/or pubic areas.” The Justice Department and San Jose State have identified 23 women who allege they were inappropriately touched by Shaw. Allegations against the former trainer, who resigned in 2020 after 14 years at the university, surfaced in December 2009, when several student athletes, including some who were minors at the time, reported to an employee that the trainer had touched their breasts, groins, buttocks and/or public area during treatment that was described to them as “trigger-point therapy” or “pressure-point therapy,” according to the report. “We acknowledge the San Jose State University students and employees whose efforts shined a light on this issue and look forward to working with the university to implement this important agreement.”