Title IX

“ Plaintiffs’ counsel sent Sweetwater a demand letter in July 2006 regarding Title IX violations at Castle Park; and Plaintiffs filed their class action complaint in April 2007. These are indisputably protected activities under Title IX, and the district court’s finding to that effect was not clearly erroneous.
It is not a viable argument for Sweetwater to urge that a class may not “sue a school district for retaliation in a Title IX athletics case.” As we have previously held: “The existence of a private right of action to enforce Title IX is well-established.” ”

“ Title IX bars sex discrimination in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding, including athletics. The law gave women access to classes, facilities and opportunities that had historically been male-only. ”

“ The Bathroom Policy Does Not Violate Title IX.
The majority no longer addresses Adams’s statutory challenge to the schools’ policy, but I explain why the policy is permissible. Title IX mandates that no person “shall, on the basis of sex, 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.” ”

“ Affirming the district court’s conclusion that “the meaning of ‘sex’ in Title IX includes ‘gender identity’” would open the door to eroding Title IX’s beneficial legacy for girls and women in sports. And removing distinctions based on biological sex from sports, particularly for girls in middle school and high school, harms not only girls’ and women’s prospects in sports, but also hinders their development and opportunities beyond the realm of sports—a significant harm to society as a whole. ”

“ Accordingly, Lowrey did not announce a sole causation standard for Title IX retaliation claims; it suggested that the causation standard for Title IX claims should be the same as the causation standard for Title VII claims while clarifying that complaints about conduct barred by Title VII could not form the basis of a Title IX claim.
Regardless, a new trial is not warranted because the district court’s instruction “substantially covered” [42] the correct standard: that there must be a “causal connection” between the Title IX complaint and the adverse employment action. ”

“ So even if the majority were correct that “sex” was ambiguous, Title IX still would not prohibit the Board’s actions. Instead, the Board would lose the protection of the bathroom safe harbor only if the meaning of “sex” unambiguously did not turn on reproductive function.
For its part, the district court ruled that the Board violated Title IX for different but equally flawed reasons. It first ruled that the meaning of “sex” in Title IX was ambiguous because the statute did not define the term and dictionary definitions of “sex” were not “so universally clear” at the time. ”

“ Stated another way, a school where fewer girls than boys play sports does not violate Title IX if the imbalance is the result of girls’ lack of interest in athletics.
The Department of Education’s 1996 guidance is again instructive: In evaluating compliance under the third prong, we must consider whether there is (1) “unmet interest in a particular sport”; (2) ability to support a team in that sport; and (3) a “reasonable expectation of competition for the team.” Id. Sweetwater would be Title IX-compliant unless all three conditions are present. ”

“ And there is no history or continuing practice of program expansion for women’s sports at the school. And yet, Sweetwater can still satisfy Title IX if it proves “that the interests and abilities of” female students “have been fully and effectively accommodated by the present program.” 44 Fed. Reg. at 71,418; see also Neal, 198 F.3d at 767–68. This, the third prong of the Title IX “effective accommodation” test, considers whether a gender imbalance in athletics is the product of impermissible discrimination or merely of the genders’ varying levels of interest in sports. ”

“ It is the college playing field where Title IX is now being threatened. Some athletic directors and commentators mistakenly blame the law for the elimination of some minor men's sports. To give women the same athletic opportunities as men, say Title IX critics, schools are forced to remove men's opportunities because of a lack of money to support added teams. ”

“ The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) concluded that a cause of action against a school district for student-on-student sexual harassment was not cognizable under the LAD. Further, even assuming that the LAD recognized such a cause of action, the ALJ opined that L.W.'s claim should be governed by Title IX standards. Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in any federally-funded educational program, permits liability "only where the funding recipient acts with deliberate indifference to known acts of harassment." ”

“ Rates of sexual harassment and assault in our nation’s schools and colleges remain unacceptable high. Far too many women see their education derailed because of pregnancy discrimination. The promise of Title IX, an education free from sex discrimination, remains as vital now as it was when it was first signed into law. ”

“ Finding that Title IX does not define the ambiguous terms “sex” and “on the basis of sex” for purposes of their application to transgender students, many courts have looked to decisions interpreting other anti-discrimination statutes, particularly Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination based on, among other things, sex. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. See, e.g., Boyertown, 893 F.3d at 195, n.103 (“Courts have frequently looked to Title VII authority for guidance with Title IX cases.”) ”

“ In order to obtain the legal rights for gender equity in athletics guaranteed them under Title IX, women across the country have successfully filed civil rights complaints and lawsuits against institutions. ”

“ The real expenses starving minor men's sports of funding are the disproportionate share of university athletic dollars spent on one or two teams—football and men's basketball—and not spent to add new teams for women or to support other men's sports. Title IX should not be the scapegoat for irresponsible, nonprofit institutions of higher education that operate their football and men's basketball programs like professional franchises. ”

“ Accordingly, the statement that Taylor can only prevail if she was terminated “solely as a consequence of complaints alleging noncompliance with the substantive provisions of Title IX” should be read as distinguishing complaints about noncompliance with Title IX from “complaints related to [Taylor’s] own individual employment,” not as establishing a causation standard. ”

“ Title IX protects all students at institutions that receive federal funding, including all public K-12 schools and almost all colleges and universities. To learn more about how Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination, check out OCR’s resources for LGBTQ+ students. Anyone who believes that a school receiving federal funding has discriminated against someone because they identify as LGBTQ+ or because they do not conform with sex stereotypes, or for another reason, can file a complaint with OCR within 180 days of the alleged discrimination. ”

“ Retaliation against someone who provides information about alleged sex discrimination or who participates in a school’s Title IX process can interfere with protections guaranteed by Title IX. If students or others do not have clear protection against such retaliation, they may be unwilling to come forward with information or a complaint of sex discrimination, leaving Title IX protections unfulfilled. ”

“ While 55 percent of our college populations are female, female athletes still receive only 42 percent of all college athletic participation opportunities,36 percent of sports operating expenditures, 32 percent of athlete recruitment spending, and 42 percent of athletic scholarship money amounting to $133 million less than male athletes receive in scholarships each year.
Why are women still second-class citizens in athletics despite a law guaranteeing that we treat our daughters as well as our sons? Because Title IX has never been adequately enforced. ”

“ These proposed regulations will advance Title IX’s goal of ensuring that no person experiences sex discrimination in education, that all students receive appropriate support as needed to access equal educational opportunities, and that school procedures for investigating and resolving complaints of sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment and sexual violence, are fair to all involved. ”

“ The Department plans to issue a separate notice of proposed rulemaking to address whether and how the Department should amend the Title IX regulations to address students’ eligibility to participate on a particular male or female athletics team.
Require schools to provide supportive measures to students and employees affected by conduct that may constitute sex discrimination, including students who have brought complaints or been accused of sex-based harassment. ”

“ The answer cuts to the heart of why Title IX is seen as such a success story for women’s rights and why this case presents significant questions of general public concern. “Girls who play sports stay in school longer, suffer fewer health problems, enter the labor force at higher rates, and are more likely to land better jobs. They are also more likely to lead.” ”

“ During the past 5 years, the Small Business Administration has tripled loans to women-owned businesses, and we have strengthened enforcement of Title IX to ensure that education programs, activities, and institutions receiving Federal funds do not discriminate on the basis of gender. ”

“ In evaluating the parties’ evidence, a school must use the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard of proof unless the school uses the clear-and-convincing-evidence standard in all other comparable proceedings, including other discrimination complaints, in which case the school may use that standard in determining whether sex discrimination occurred. A school must not impose disciplinary sanctions under Title IX on any person unless it determines that sex discrimination has occurred. ”

“ Finally, nothing in Title IX’s regulations or any administrative guidance on Title IX excuses the School Board’s discriminatory policy.
A.
Our analysis of Mr. Adams’s Title IX claim benefits from the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. ___, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020) . Bostock announced that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination also forbids discrimination based on transgender status. Id. at 1737. The Court instructed that “it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being ... ”

“ Indeed, something as simple as being left-handed may offer a significant competitive advantage in some sports, and yet we do not handicap or ban left-handed girls in Title IX-funded programs. See Steph Yin, Do Lefties Have an Advantage in Sports? ”

“ Comm., 555 U.S. 246, 259 (2009) (“Title IX exempts from its restrictions several activities that may be challenged on constitutional grounds;” some of which “may form the basis of equal protection claims.”) (citations omitted) ; see also Boyertown, 893 F.3d at 195 (noting that “Title IX does not require [schools to] provide separate privacy facilities for the sexes”) . ↑ The Supreme Court subsequently remanded G.G. for further consideration of the Title IX claim, 137 S. Ct. ”

“ Title IX says nothing about Mr. Adams’s “sex.” To start, Title IX and its accompanying regulations contain no definition of the term “sex.” “Also absent from the statute is the term ‘biological.’” Whitaker, 858 F.3d at 1047. It seems fair to say that § 106.33 tells us that restrooms may be divided by male and female. But the plain language of the regulation sheds no light on whether Mr. Adams’s “sex” is female as assigned at his birth or whether his “sex” is male as it reads on his driver’s license and his birth certificate. While the School Board maintains that Mr. ”

“ For the reasons stated here, the motion is denied. ↑ The FHSAA (which governs competitive interscholastic sports at Florida high schools (including Nease) and allows students to play on teams based on their gender identity) apparently finds Title IX’s use of the word “sex” includes “gender identity.” See 34 C.F.R. § 106.41 (b) (Title IX regulation governing athletics, stating that schools may operate “separate teams for members of each sex”) . ↑ The School Board argues that a finding that its policy violates the Equal Protection Clause renders Title IX unconstitutional. ”

“ But to alter, in favour of female students, rules laid down for the regulation of graduation in medicine would imply an assumption on the part of the Court, that the University of Edinburgh has the power of granting degrees to women. It seems to the Court impossible to them to assume the existence of a power that is questioned in many quarters, and which is both affirmed and denied by eminent counsel. ”

“ I was willing it should exist as one of the half-way measures of which I have spoken,--like the reading-room in New York; but I was bent on opening the colleges which already existed to women, and I left it to others to nurse the young life of this. The first medical men, I felt assured, would never, in the present state of public opinion, take an interest in a female college; and I desired, above all things, to protect women from second-rate instruction. ”