Document Type
Brief
Publication Date
11-11-2024
Publisher
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Language
en-US
Abstract
Issues Presented:
Title IX prohibits schools from responding with deliberate indifference to student-on-student sexual harassment that interferes with, or threatens to interfere with, a victim’s education. It also prohibits schools from retaliating against students who engage in Title IX protected activity, such as reporting an assault. Here, another Marshall student sexually assaulted Roe at an offcampus residence near Marshall’s campus. Roe reported the assault and other instances of student-on-student relationship abuse. In the assault’s aftermath, Roe missed classes and limited her time on campus because she was afraid of encountering her assailant. Her grades suffered. Marshall did not address the student-on-student harassment using its Title IX procedures, grant Roe appropriate supportive measures, or inform her that a no-contact order against her assailant remained in effect. Instead, it shunted her report to its student-conduct office, investigated her, and punished her purportedly for engaging in underage drinking on the day she was assaulted.
This appeal presents two issues:
- Whether a reasonable juror could conclude that Marshall violated Title IX by responding to student-on-student sexual harassment with deliberate indifference.
- Whether a reasonable juror could conclude that Marshall violated Title IX by retaliating against Roe for reporting student-on-student sexual harassment and aiding in the investigation of her assailant.
Recommended Citation
Ryan M. Donovan, J. Z. Ritchie, Madeline H. Meth, Gregory Bowe, Erin Hunter & Sarah Monahan,
Opening Brief for Plaintiff-Appellant, Roe v. Marshall University Board of Governors
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3973
