Department of Education Requests Comments on Proposed Title IX Regulations
On November 19, 2018 by Schnader in Client AlertsKaren Baillie issued a client alert, “Department of Education Requests Comments on Proposed Title IX Regulations.” Baillie is co-chair of Schnader’s Higher Education Practice Group.
“On Friday, November 16, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding how schools must respond to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. The proposed rules would apply to elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools receiving federal financial assistance. This Alert addresses the provisions affecting institutions of higher education.
The current regulations offer almost no detailed standards, providing only that schools must designate a responsible employee and must publish a grievance procedure. Under the Obama Administration, the Department of Education issued a number of guidance documents that seemingly created a wide range of procedural requirements, which led to many lawsuits against institutions of higher education.
Last fall Secretary Betsy DeVos withdrew most of the Obama-era guidance because critics complained that the guidance was not promulgated through proper administrative procedures. The newly released proposed regulations will be considered through the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and will be open for public comment for 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.”