Difference between revisions of "Title IX"
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"Title IX requires complaining parties to meet a particularly tough test. Damages can be won only when a school district has shown 'deliberate indifference.'" This is in contrast with the standard under [[Section 1983]] of the [[Civil Rights Act]], and in 2009 the [[Supreme Court]] will decide whether both remedies are available for lawsuits against public schools, or only Title IX.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20081201/court01_st.art.htm?POE=click-refer</ref> | "Title IX requires complaining parties to meet a particularly tough test. Damages can be won only when a school district has shown 'deliberate indifference.'" This is in contrast with the standard under [[Section 1983]] of the [[Civil Rights Act]], and in 2009 the [[Supreme Court]] will decide whether both remedies are available for lawsuits against public schools, or only Title IX.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20081201/court01_st.art.htm?POE=click-refer</ref> | ||
| − | == | + | == Harassment == |
| − | + | Title IX has been interpreted as prohibiting conduct that is sufficiently serious that it limits or denies a student's ability to benefit from a school's programs. The prohibition goes beyond official school policies to acts of harassment within the control of the school. For example, it prohibits teachers from sexually harassing students, and it prohibits student-on-student harassment. It is also the basis for lawsuits against institutions alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2001 the U.S. Department of Education issued this guideline: | |
| − | + | ||
{{cquote|Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, sexual harassment directed at gay or lesbian students that is sufficiently serious to limit or deny a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s program constitutes sexual harassment prohibited by Title IX}} | {{cquote|Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, sexual harassment directed at gay or lesbian students that is sufficiently serious to limit or deny a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s program constitutes sexual harassment prohibited by Title IX}} | ||
Revision as of 11:08, September 5, 2012
Title IX is a section of the Higher Education Amendments Act of 1972 which mandates that no one "be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" on account of sex.[1] 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a). Title IX became law in 1972. This requirement applies to all aspects of an educational institution even if only one department within the institution receives federal aid.
Contents
Sports
As a practical matter Title IX results in quota-like requirements in college sports, such that women's participation on team rosters (compared to men's) must be equal to their proportional enrollment in the school (compared to men's) under the proportionality test. This is despite the fact that Congress expressly prohibited quotas:[2]
- Nothing contained in . . . this section shall be interpreted to require any educational institution to grant preferential or disparate treatment to the members of one sex on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of that sex participating in or receiving the benefits of any federal program or activity, in comparison with the total number or percentage of persons of that sex in any community, State, section, or other area.
The author of Title IX, Representative Edith Green, later lamented that:[3]
- In 1972 when we enacted the Higher Education Act--including Title IX--to end discrimination against women, we sought to be exceedingly explicit so that the establishment of quotas would be prohibited. I was surprised and dismayed when complaints from colleges and universities came in stating that the Department of Labor was requiring them to meet quotas. . . . Title IX was not designed to do away with intercollegiate sports.
Proportionality Test
The Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) and later the Department of Education have issued regulations to implement Title IX. The Democratic Administrations of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, have interpreted these regulations to say that a gender proportionality test may be applied to schools that receive any federal money concerning. This test causes these institutions to attempt to have the same proportion of boys and girls on sports teams as are enrolled in the school, regardless of interest in sports. Some seek to apply this proportionality test to math and science programs also.
Courts have misapplied Title IX to allow massive jury awards whenever a coach is let go or not rehired. For example, a California trial court awarded over $5.8 million to an ex-volleyball coach because she claimed that a state college did not renew her coaching contract "because of her perceived sexual orientation and her speaking up on behalf of female athletes."[4]
Over 400 men's sports teams have been eliminated by the quota-based application of Title IX, including over 170 wrestling teams.[5]
Legal Standard
"Title IX requires complaining parties to meet a particularly tough test. Damages can be won only when a school district has shown 'deliberate indifference.'" This is in contrast with the standard under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act, and in 2009 the Supreme Court will decide whether both remedies are available for lawsuits against public schools, or only Title IX.[6]
Harassment
Title IX has been interpreted as prohibiting conduct that is sufficiently serious that it limits or denies a student's ability to benefit from a school's programs. The prohibition goes beyond official school policies to acts of harassment within the control of the school. For example, it prohibits teachers from sexually harassing students, and it prohibits student-on-student harassment. It is also the basis for lawsuits against institutions alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2001 the U.S. Department of Education issued this guideline:
| “ | Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, sexual harassment directed at gay or lesbian students that is sufficiently serious to limit or deny a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s program constitutes sexual harassment prohibited by Title IX | ” |
Admissions
Today women outnumber men, often by huge percentages, at most colleges. Decades ago, however, when Title IX was enacted, there were a large number of single-sex institutions. Title IX did not apply to private, single-sex institutions. 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a)(1). The law gave institutions that changed to coed status a seven year window of non-compliance during the transition.
Perhaps the most notable case involved admissions at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), a state-owned college in Lexington, Virginia. In 1990 the US Department of Justice sued VMI seeking to end its all-male admissions policy. In response, Virginia created a Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership (VWIL) at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. Women seeking admission to VMI took the case to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled 7-1 that VMI must admit women based on the Fourteenth Amendment in United States v. Virginia.[7] VMI then considered converting into a private college, but the Department of Defense threatened to withdraw its ROTC program if the school converted to being private. Finally, VMI's board voted 8-7 to admit women with the first class entering in 1997.
Some coeducational institutions used different admissions standards for male and female applicants. In 2009, the United States Civil Rights Commission launched an investigation into whether college admissions policies discriminated based on gender.[8]
Private cause of action
Title IX does not contain an explicit provision allowing for private lawsuits. However, Congress later enacted the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976, 90 Stat. 2641, which authorizes an award of fees to prevailing private parties in actions to enforce Title IX as well as other Civil Rights laws. So, the courts have interpreted Title IX as allowing plaintiffs to sue educational institutions for monetary damages and other relief in addition to the enforcement efforts of the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education. The Supreme Court held in Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677, 99 S.Ct. 1946, 60 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), that Title IX is also enforceable through an implied private right of action. In Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, 503 U.S. 60, 112 S.Ct. 1028, 117 L.Ed.2d 208 (1992), the Court established that monetary damages are available in private Title IX suits. Private lawsuits have been successful in a number of contexts:
In Franklin, a female high school student had been sexually harassed and abused by her male teacher. Although the teacher resigned on the condition that all claims against him be dropped, the suit continued against the school district for monetary damages. In Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274(1998), a female high school student had a sexual relationship with a male teacher, who was arrested when the school authorities found out. The student then sued the school district for money damages, but the Supreme Court held that damages could only be awarded if a supervisor in the school knew of the abuse, had the power to end it, but failed to do so. In Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999) the Supreme Court held that if a school was "deliberately indifferent" to student-on-student sexual harassment, it would be liable for damages under Title IX. In Davis, a fifth grade boy was repeatedly harassing a girl student with the teachers and principal ignoring her parents' complaints.
References
- ↑ http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1681
- ↑ 20 U.S.C. § 1681(b).
- ↑ Edith Green, "The Road Is Paved With Good Intentions," Address at Brigham Young University (Jan. 25, 1977).
- ↑ Seattle Times
- ↑ http://www.athleticscholarships.net/title-ix-college-athletics-6.htm
- ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20081201/court01_st.art.htm?POE=click-refer
- ↑ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=518&page=515
- ↑ Miners, Zach. "U.S. Civil Rights Commission Investigates College Admission Bias", November 18, 2009. Retrieved on August 30, 2012.
