The University of Michigan has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle allegations brought by a woman who accused a former Wolverine football staff member of rape.
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Ann Arbor police confirmed last week that they closed the case without asking prosecutors to bring criminal charges into an alleged 2024 sexual assault where they had publicly identified former football staffer LaTroy Lewis as a suspect in the case.
"It's all part of a tumultuous year for the athletic department and the university: a $12 million private legal review into culture, the departure of the longtime athletic director and welcoming a new university president tasked with overseeing sweeping changes in the athletic department," Dave Boucher of the Free Press wrote.
A settlement agreement obtained by the Free Press shows that earlier this summer the university agreed to pay a woman $848,000 and her lawyer another $352,000 in order to release any claims the woman might have against the school.
Karen Truszkowski, the lawyer representing the woman, told the Free Press on Friday there is little she can say about the situation, other than "there is not a correlation" between the settlement and the end of the Ann Arbor police investigation.
The woman named in the settlement has the same name as a woman who obtained a personal protection order against Lewis earlier this year and in a 2025 police report indicating the woman and Lewis were in a romantic relationship, according to Boucher. The woman provided sparse but stark allegations in her request for the order. "Raped & assaulted me, threatened to kill me," the woman wrote in capital letters, per the Free Press. "LaTroy repeatedly threatened my life ... Raped & beat me."
"In the legal agreement, the university indicates the woman and her lawyer raised allegations as part of an already ongoing school inquiry into the culture of the athletic department," he wrote. "The settlement does not provide details of these allegations, but asserts the university denies them.
"In exchange for the money, the woman and her lawyer agree to relinquish any legal claims against the university and current or former employees. That essentially means they won't sue the university related to the allegations."
Lewis was fired by the Atlanta Falcons in February when the allegations surfaced. He denied any misconduct at the time, Boucher reported.
