Thread by @FGossGraves

Here’s what I didn’t get to say today at the House Education & Labor hearing on the new Title IX rule and gender bias in the Trump administration. The administration is arguing that this rule is justified by previous Supreme Court decisions.
It’s not. (THREAD)

#HandsOffIX

https://twitter.com/nwlc/status/1304111238985797633

In Davis v. Monroe, SCOTUS created a specific Title IX standard for students to bring lawsuits against their schools for failing to address sexual harassment and assault by other students. @NWLC knows this decision well — after all, we brought that landmark case.

While Betsy DeVos & the GOP witness today argued that the Dept of Education’s new Title IX rule is consistent with the Davis standard, the truth is that the Department threw out a legal standard it had been using for almost 20 years for schools’ responses to sexual harassment.

The question SCOTUS answered in Davis was whether individuals could get $ damages in Title IX peer harassment cases. SCOTUS answered yes! But then set a standard that was frankly worse for students who were going to court-a standard harder to meet than the standard for employees

Why the different standard for damages? SCOTUS held schools to a lower litigation standard to protect them from being sued for money when they’re unaware that a student has been sexually harassed or assaulted.

Davis recognized that the Department of Education can and should take more proactive steps to protect students against sexual harassment and ensure harassment doesn't upend a student's education.

The DeVos regs seem to be designed to prevent schools from doing more than the minimum under Supreme Court precedent to respond to harassment.But we have a right to expect more than the absolute bare minimum. The Department of Education should take seriously its role!

The Department has failed to justify such a dramatic shift from this longstanding understanding & practice, which no doubt weakens Title IX protections against sexual harassment.

The previous Title IX guidances—which DeVos rescinded—provided appropriate protections by ensuring that schools do not ignore sexual harassment. The DeVos rule does the opposite: it **forces** schools to dismiss many Title IX complaints. Here are some examples (content warning):

Ex 1: If a child reports that a teacher exposed himself to the child when they were alone in a classroom, the child’s Title IX complaint must be dismissed. Under the new DeVos rule, a teacher must expose himself to a child at least 2x before it is considered “sexual harassment.”

Ex 2: If a student reports that a classmate has been repeatedly asking them for nude photos, the student’s Title IX complaint must be dismissed. This is because under the DeVos rule, none of the demands were independently severe enough to be considered “sexual harassment.”

Ex 3: If a student reports that a classmate recorded them without their knowledge during a sexual encounter & showed the video to another classmate, the Title IX complaint must be dismissed. Under the DeVos rule, the student must wait until MORE classmates see the video

I could go on and on. But one thing is clear: the Title IX rule is plainly illegal and represents a betrayal of all students. That’s why @nwlc is proud to sue DeVos and the Trump administration to fight for the rights, safety, dignity, and equal treatment of all student survivors