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1 1 (April 7, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govefoc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: a Congressional ______ **Research Service ~nformrng the leg~Is aive debate since 1914___________________ Sexual Harassment and Assault at School: Divergence Among Federal Courts Regarding Liability April 7, 2022 Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), schools that receive federal financial assistance are liable for a deliberately indifferent response to the sexual harassment and assault of students by teachers, as well as by fellow students in certain circumstances. While this standard is a stringent one to meet, federal courts have not applied it uniformly. In particular, federal courts of appeals have taken diverging positions over whether a school's insufficient response to a single incident of student-on-student harassment itself can establish liability under Title IX, or whether further incidents of harassment are required in order for liability to attach. This disagreement turns, at least in part, on language in Supreme Court decisions establishing the general parameters of school liability for sexual harassment under Title IX, as well as the interpretation of legislation enacted pursuant to Congress's spending power under the Constitution. Background: Supreme Court Cases on Sexual Harassment and Title IX Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. Most public school districts and universities receive federal funds (although the statute does have various exceptions). Importantly, the statute's text does not explicitly create a cause of action, specify judicial remedies available to plaintiffs, or even mention sexual harassment. The Supreme Court has nevertheless interpreted Title IX to extend to sexual harassment, and has crafted the relevant standards and available judicial relief in such cases. In doing so, the Supreme Court has examined the structure of the statute's enforcement scheme and stressed the principles attendant to spending power legislation. Two cases set the general framework for establishing liability under Title IX in cases of sexual harassment. First, the Supreme Court has interpreted Title IX's bar against sex discrimination to authorize holding school districts liable in damages in certain cases of sexual harassment of a student by a teacher. In Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, the Court ruled that school districts can be liable for a damages claim under Title IX for a deliberately indifferent response to known acts of harassment in such circumstances. Under Gebser, in addition to showing a school's deliberate indifference, plaintiffs must show that an appropriate person, defined as an official who at a minimum has authority to address the Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10726 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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