Title IX Regulations

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Although some suggest that the Title IX rules issued earlier this month are a boon for schools, colleges, and universities, those of us working to help schools comply with the new rules know that they are anything but a blessing to educational institutions. Among the many prescriptive and confusing measures that will reign when the rules become effective on August 14, schools will be required to comply with numerous detailed procedural requirements to respond to a “formal complaint” of sexual harassment. The rules limit the ways in which a formal complaint can be initiated. Specifically, only an alleged victim of sexual harassment (a “complainant”) can “file” a formal complaint, which must be written. But a Title IX Coordinator also has the authority to “sign” a formal, written complaint. Either path initiates the formal complaint process required by the rules. Because OCR has made clear that it will scrutinize the decision to sign a complaint under the same standards as it will any other portion of an institution’s response to sexual harassment, schools, colleges, and universities must ensure they understand what factors a Title IX Coordinator should consider—and those they absolutely should not—when deciding whether to sign a formal complaint under the new rules.

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Continue Reading A “Sign” of Things to Come: Title IX Coordinators and “Signing” Complaints

One of the biggest changes from the new Title IX regulations issued by the Department of Education last week is that, beginning in August 2020, OCR’s complaint findings will be based on standards very similar to those used by federal courts for decades in lawsuits for money damages under Title IX. The U.S. Supreme Court set forth the standards in Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998), and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999). Those cases included the fundamental ideas that have now been codified—in modified form—in the Department’s final rule, such as the ideas that a school can only be responsible for sexual harassment that is “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim’s access to an educational opportunity or benefit”; when it exercises “substantial control” over the harasser and the “context” of harassment; and when it has “actual knowledge” of the sexual harassment. These cases also are the root of the “deliberately indifferent” standard that OCR will now use to decide if a school has violated Title IX. What do these standards mean, and what lessons can your institution learn from the court cases in which they were created and fleshed out over the past two decades?…
Continue Reading Why Your Next OCR Title IX Complaint May Feel Like A Lawsuit

As we discussed in our blog post on May 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education issued on that day its long-awaited Title IX regulations, raising panic and concern amongst stakeholders on every part of the Title IX spectrum. Our Title IX Insights blog team provided some initial thoughts on the new regulations during a webinar on May 11; you can watch the recording here. This blog post answers some of the questions we raised during the webinar as well as some questions we received from the audience but did not have time to address. For more on the details about the final rule, check out the webinar recording and stay tuned to our blog for more insights to come.…
Continue Reading 9 for IX: Nine Essential Questions Answered About the New Title IX