If your partner says, “I’ll have sex with you, but only if we do it hanging upside down from the ceiling while howling like werewolves,” I’d suggest that if you want to have sex, start working on your howling technique. The...more
Another scourge is upon the education field … someone is bringing Yik Yak back. The Chronicle of Higher Education just did a nice analysis on the reinvigorated app, here, for background....more
Years ago, I took heat from activists who thought that TNG’s replacement of the terms “rape” and “sexual assault” with policy-based alternatives in our model policies was minimizing of the severity of the behaviors. Rape is...more
Many in the Title IX field watched last week as two different federal courts denied challenges to the validity of the 2020 Title IX regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The regulations survived these...more
Introduction -
Those who are familiar with the 2020 Title IX regulations will know that the regulations distinguish between relevant evidence and directly related evidence (DRE). The regulations view this distinction as...more
Q: Is there any guidance or best practices concerning sharing information about reports that involve the same respondent? For example, two students have reported being sexually assaulted by the same respondent. Would it be...more
This topic is raised fairly frequently by members of the National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (NABITA). This Tip of the Week offers key understandings and best practices and is adapted from a...more
On the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) listserv recently, Title IX experts Brett Sokolow and Ryan Thompson had the following exchange in response to a member question about what would happen in a Title IX...more
Increasing Pressure on Schools to Address Off-Campus Conduct -
K-12 administrators seek our counsel frequently on the issues of off-campus jurisdiction over student misconduct. Conversations about addressing out-of-school...more
A little more than ten years ago, I received what seemed like an odd request: would I be willing to serve as an expert witness in federal Title IX litigation? My perception had always been that most Title IX litigation...more
Race is always important, even when sex discrimination is the main focus of a complaint. To effectively implement a Title IX resolution process, Title IX administrators must be cognizant of the intersectionality of race and...more
The field is awash in investigators of all kinds. I assume many of them are expert investigators, but who knows? What’s rare, though, is an investigator who’s also a subject matter expert (SME) on the topic they’re...more
The Title IX risk management space is complex and ever-changing. As such, TNG and ATIXA continue to leverage a non-linear approach to problem-solving to provide the best possible outcomes for our clients and members....more
Dear Brett:
My school needs an external civil rights investigation. We received quotes from a number of firms, and the per-hour cost varied by more than $200 over the various provider quotes. Can you help us understand...more
The following Q&A is reprised from a recent conversation with a client.
Q: Dear Brett, I have a Title IX complaint where the complainant has produced evidence, in the form of text messages, in which the respondent admits...more
Since the 2020 Title IX regulations have taken effect, colleges all across the U.S. are scrambling to find advisors to accompany the parties through the formal resolution process. While many colleges and universities elect to...more
1/25/2021
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Evidence ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
A recent three-part series “Important Things to Get Right About the Neurobiology of Trauma” released by the organization EVAW-I has interesting implications for training sexual assault investigators. Specifically, the second...more
A little more than ten years ago, I received what seemed like an odd request: would I be willing to serve as an expert witness in federal Title IX litigation? My perception had always been that most Title IX litigation...more
11/23/2020
/ Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Expert Witness ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
It has been a week! We now know that Joe Biden is the President-Elect of the United States of America. There will still be some legal wrangling, and nothing is set in stone until the electors vote in December. But, assuming...more
11/9/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
OCR ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX
It’s unlikely that online threats could be immediate threats to physical health or safety, unless the threatening individual is in close physical proximity to those being threatened, or the threat is pretty detailed and...more
11/9/2020
/ Colleges ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Gender-Based Violence ,
Harassment ,
Online Platforms ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Universities
M.M. v. San Juan Unified Sch. Dist., No. 219CV00398TLNEFB, 2020 WL 5702265 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 24, 2020) -
SUMMARY OF PROCEDURAL HISTORY:
M.M., a nine-year-old female student in the San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD),...more
10/29/2020
/ Failure To Protect ,
Gross Misconduct ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
School Safety ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Workplace Safety
Many campuses, and ATIXA’s One Policy, Two Procedures (1P2P Model), incorporate the idea of having a specific role for a hearing facilitator, even though the role is not specifically contemplated by the regs. I am coming to...more