Male Respondents to Sexual Misconduct and Coronavirus Client Alert
Male Respondents to Sexual Misconduct and Coronavirus Client Alert
The Coronavirus pandemic is the first systemic crisis test of the Title IX and sexual misconduct process currently in place in colleges and universities in the United States.
Our clients are concerned about Coronavirus’ interaction with their situation. Most schools are either closing or about to close for a significant period of time to mitigate the Coronavirus pandemic. This means that any complaint, investigation, adjudication and suspension or expulsion from a student sexual misconduct process will similarly be delayed unless the respondent and his legal team judiciously argue his rights. While Title IX’s remaining guidelines do provide “good faith” frameworks and timelines for investigation and resolution (1) the truth is that as of this post, Coronavirus took over. (2, this is a list of schools closed in PA). Everything student misconduct-related will take longer now. And this creates significant risk and potential reward. Including:
Can Title IX staff simply leave the respondent in Coronavirus limbo?
NO. Title IX coordinators and investigators do not have the power to suspend their work on your complainant’s case. It is in fact to the disadvantage of the female complainant—and thus arguably deliberately indifferent—if the school suddenly says they are going to put the investigation in the back burner. Thus, out of fairness to everyone, Title IX staff needs to continue working through the Coronavirus period and either dismiss the complaints as unfounded or else make a recommendation for discipline which the male respondent would immediately seek a hearing for.
If the male respondent is suspended or banned for the current semester, will the suspension or ban run concurrent with the Corona virus-expanded class suspension?
YES. It must. Suspending the respondent, or its milder version, letting the respondent only attend class remotely, represents a profoundly shaming and often harshly imposed punishment. That punishment cannot be expanded simply because the Coronavirus shut down the college’s operations. In addition, it was the Title IX office’s decision to suspend the male respondent for a set period, not for an indefinite period, and to make that period indefinite because of something that the respondent did not cause—the Coronavirus pandemic—violates both Title IX and the contractual commitments the school makes with students in general (at the time of enrollment) and specifically (at the time of making the suspension/ban decision).
If the male respondent is under investigation does the investigation stop or go on during the Coronavirus school shut down period?
IT GOES ON. The student misconduct investigation is an administrative procedure that does not involve many of the factors that school’s used to, wisely, shut down operations for the time being, to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus. A Title IX investigator’s main job is to document and either verify or debunk the complainant’s story. Most often, given the make-up of Title IX staff (3) they find verifying evidence. But the process requires one on one interviewing that can be done over the telephone. This is not a process that exposes anyone to contagion and thus it goes on.
If the male respondent was self-defending, or had a legal team, but all his witnesses have left campus, how can he conduct his defense?
DILIGENTLY. The shut-down is an unprecedented opportunity for respondents of student sexual misconduct. Coronavirus is a global tragedy. But the duty of a male responding to student sexual misconduct, as well as that of his legal team, is to save his good name. That is done with hard, one-on-one, safety-conscious investigation and documentation. Thus, during the shut down, the male respondent to student sexual misconduct (through his legal team) needs to document all the evidence that exonerates him and record all the stories that poke holes in whatever the Title IX office have accused him of. The shut down should be used to empower respondents to better document their defense, and to instill into every student involved that sometimes, like during this global crisis, a community needs to come together in tolerance, not apart in hate.
What if the shut down violates the male respondent’s Title IX and contract rights?
SUE. The Coronavirus crisis does not exempt schools from resolving your dire status as a male responding to student sexual misconduct. If the Title IX office suspends, delays or otherwise neglects your process (and this is true for the complainant as well), lawsuits should be filed. The Title IX staff needs to interview everyone, and to receive everything, that relates to this complaint. Then they need to evaluate it. Throughout they need to work with the male respondent and the female complainant, closely and promptly. There is no excuse, even this global crisis, for school staff dropping the ball and failing to do their job, with justice and fairness for men and women.
Raul Jauregui
Jauregui Law Firm
I am an attorney and I defend mostly respondents of sexual misconduct in colleges or universities. This is absolutely not my legal opinion or my legal advice, but rather survey of the Title IX topic. If you’re in this situation, in any way, consult a lawyer now.
As posted in Quora:
Endnotes:
1. “Question 5: What time frame constitutes a “prompt” investigation? Answer: There is no fixed time frame under which a school must complete a Title IX investigation.13 OCR will evaluate a school’s good faith effort to conduct a fair, impartial investigation in a timely manner designed to provide all parties with resolution.”
United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, September 2017 Q&A on Campus Sexual Misconduct, available at: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-title-ix-201709.pdf
2. As of March 12, 2020, the following schools either shut down or extended their Spring break in an effort to mitigate the Coronavirus pandemic:
Bloomsburg University
Bloomsburg
Extend spring break through March 22; cancel non-athletic university events; cancel university-sponsored travel
https://www.bloomu.edu/coronavirus
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr
Remote instruction through at least April 3
https://www.brynmawr.edu/healthcenter/coronavirus-information-and-updates
Bucknell University
Lewisburg
Remote instruction for remainder of semester
https://www.bucknell.edu/life-bucknell/health-wellness-safety/coronavirus-covid-19-updates
Carlow University
Pittsburgh
Classes resume March 23, but online only
carlow.edu
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh
Remote instruction starting March 18
https://www.cmu.edu/alert/coronavirus/index.html
Chestnut Hill College
Philadelphia
Closed through March 15
https://www.chc.edu/coronavirus-updates
Cheyney University
Cheyney
Message on website: “Classes Suspended Next Week”
https://cheyney.edu/novel-coronavirus/
Chatham University
Pittsburgh
Online-only instruction starting March 17 for rest of spring term
chatham.edu
Dickinson College
Carlisle
Extend spring break through March 21; suspend events with more than 25 people
https://www.dickinson.edu//homepage/1380/covid-19_dashboard
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh
Classes moving online only starting March 18
duq.edu
East Stroudsburg University
East Stroudsburg
Extend spring break through March 22
https://www.esu.edu/health-and-wellness/coronavirus.cfm
Edinboro University
Edinboro
Extend spring break through March 22
https://www.edinboro.edu/directory/offices-services/ehs/ready/coronavirus
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg
Extend spring break through March 22
https://www.gettysburg.edu/offices/health-counseling-services/coronavirus-information/
Haverford College
Haverford
Remote instruction through April 3
https://www.haverford.edu/deans-office-student-life/news/coronavirus-information
Kutztown University
Kutztown
Extend spring break through March 22
https://www.kutztown.edu/news-and-media/announcements/health-update.html
Lehigh University
Lehigh
Remote instruction through March 27
https://www2.lehigh.edu/news/updates-on-novel-coronavirus
Lincoln University
Lincoln University
Remote instruction for the remainder of the semester
https://www.lincoln.edu/departments/health-services/coronavirus
Lock Haven University
Lock Haven
Remote instruction beginning March 23 (after spring break ends) and continuing until April 3
http://www.lockhaven.edu/virusinfo/
Marywood University
Scranton
Classes canceled for week of March 16
marywood.edu
Millersville University
Millersville
Remote instruction beginning on March 30 (after spring break ends)
https://www.millersville.edu/coronavirus/
Misericordia University
Misericordia
All classes moving online starting March 18
https://www.misericordia.edu
Moravian College
Bethlehem
Normal operations, but residential students cannot host outside guests
https://www.moravian.edu/healthcenter/health-alerts
Muhlenberg College
Allentown
Remote instruction for remainder of semester
https://www.muhlenberg.edu/offices/healthcenter/coronavirus/
Penn State University
State College
Remote instruction through April 3
https://news.psu.edu/story/611757/2020/03/11/academics/all-penn-state-classes-take-place-remotely-beginning-march-16
Robert Morris University
Moon Township
All classes delivered online starting March 16
https://www.rmu.edu/about/health
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg
Extend spring break through March 22
http://www.ship.edu/coronavirus/
Slippery Rock University
Slippery Rock
Extend spring break through March 29; remote instruction thereafter until further notice
https://www.sru.edu/news/03112020
Susquehanna University
Selingsgrove
Spring break extended through March 22
https://www.susqu.edu/emergency/coronavirus-update
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore
Extend spring break through March 22; remote instruction through April
https://www.swarthmore.edu/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-information
Temple University
Philadelphia
All classes moving online as of March 16
https://www.temple.edu/coronavirus
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Extend spring break through March 22; remote instruction for remainder of semester
https://coronavirus.upenn.edu/
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Remote instruction beginning March 23
https://www.chancellor.pitt.edu/spotlight/covid-19-pandemic-pitts-actions-0
University of Scranton
Scranton
Extend spring break through March 29; remote instruction thereafter until April 14
https://www.scranton.edu/covid-19/index.shtml
Villanova University
Philadelphia
Remote instruction through April 3
https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/studentlife/health/center/Coronavirus.html
West Chester University
West Chester
Remote instruction for remainder of semester
https://www.wcupa.edu/communications/newsroom/2020/03.10update.aspx
Westminster College
New Wilmington
Extend spring break through March 18; remote instruction through April 3
https://www.westminster.edu/campus/health/response.cfm
Widener University
Chester
Remote instruction beginning March 19 for the remainder of the semester
https://www.widener.edu/coronavirus