Title IX Investigations
How Do You Manage Complaints?
By Kaitlin Atlas
Attorney
Franczek P.C.
Amy Dickerson
Attorney
Franczek P.C.
Jenny Lee
Law Clerk
Franczek P.C.
Jennifer Smith
Attorney
Franczek P.C.
Emily Tulloch
Attorney
Franczek P.C.
This year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation signed into law on June 23, 1972, as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. The critical words of Title IX — “No person in the United States 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” — transformed the landscape of gender equity in education, expanding opportunities and ensuring fairness for women. We first saw Title IX make substantial changes in the realm of athletics, but it has since made significant strides in addressing sexual harassment on campuses across the country. In fact, after years of heightened enforcement and non-regulatory guidance targeted toward schools’ responses to sexual harassment, the Department of Education made its continued focus on sexual harassment clear in May 2020 when it published the new Title IX regulations (effective August 2020). The current Title IX regulations have a particular focus on addressing sexual harassment, including new procedural requirements for investigating and adjudicating complaints of sexual misconduct that fall under Title IX’s purview.