Colleges in New Hampshire use hearing procedures for Title IX and code of conduct violations that rarely take the rights of the accused seriously. Instead, many school investigations pander to the person making the allegation and seem designed to find a violation regardless of the circumstances.
If you think that your rights have been violated by your school in New Hampshire, you can file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to urge the federal agency to oversee your case and enforce your rights.
The Office for Civil Rights Helps Students
The Office for Civil Rights is a federal agency in the U.S. Department of Education. Tasked with enforcing federal civil rights laws that protect students in higher education settings, the OCR can be brought into your case with an effective complaint within 180 days of the alleged violation of your rights.
OCR Investigations in New Hampshire
If the OCR is convinced by your complaint and decides to take further action, its agents will conduct an independent investigation into allegations you made in the complaint. This often leads to a document review and interview process that mirrors what your school did, during their Title IX or disciplinary investigation.
After the OCR's investigation, the agency will submit a letter of findings to both you and your school. If the OCR determined that your school did violate your federal rights, it will push for mediation, and take administrative action against your college if it refuses to attend.
Protection Against Retaliation
Throughout the OCR's investigation, students who have filed complaints with the agency are protected from intimidation or retaliation. If your school takes action against you for implicating the OCR in your case, it can be grounds for another OCR complaint and another investigation into your school's conduct.
Settling Cases Through Facilitated Resolution
Many colleges facing an OCR investigation will quickly move to settle the case rather than suffer an investigation that can find them in violation of the law. The OCR knows this and provides the process of Facilitated Resolution Between the Parties to help students and their schools come to a mediated settlement agreement. While the OCR does not monitor this process – instead leaving it largely up to you and your school to come up with a resolution – they can conduct another investigation if your school breaks the agreed upon resolution and you file another OCR complaint.
New Hampshire's Title IX and OCR Complaint Advisor
Joseph D. Lento is a student discipline defense attorney who represents students in New Hampshire. If you have been accused of a disciplinary violation – particularly if the violation is for sexual misconduct in violation of Title IX – having attorney Lento on your side can make a big difference in the outcome of your case.
When you think that your school has violated your rights, the next step is often to file a complaint with the OCR. Crafting an effective complaint that is persuasive and broad enough to create a full investigation, however, often takes a lawyer. Attorney Lento can help. Contact him online or by phone at 888-535-3686.
- Chester College of New England
- Colby Sawyer College
- Daniel Webster College
- Dartmouth College
- Franklin Pierce University
- Granite State College
- Great Bay Community College
- Hesser College
- Keene State College
- Lakes Region Community College
- Lebanon College
- Manchester Community College
- Nashua Community College
- New England College
- New Hampshire Institute of Art
- NHTI Concord's Community College
- Northeast Catholic College
- Plymouth State University
- River Valley Community College
- Rivier College
- Saint Anselm College
- Southern New Hampshire University
- St. Joseph School of Nursing
- Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
- University of New Hampshire at Manchester
- University of New Hampshire Main Campus
- White Mountains Community College
Students and parents at times do not realize until after a finding of responsibility and the imposition of adverse sanctions that sexual misconduct allegations at college can result in severe consequences academically and professionally and in the short and long-term. The earlier the necessary steps are taken to address a Title IX case, the better, because these are cases that can be won at the school-level. There are times, however, that the help of the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (DOE-OCR) is needed and Joseph D. Lento has a decade of experience passionately fighting for the futures of his clients at colleges and universities throughout the nation and has helped many clients seek recourse with the DOE-OCR. He does not settle for the easiest outcome, and instead prioritizes his clients' needs and well-being. Joseph Lento is a licensed attorney in New Jersey and New York, who helps students in New Hampshire with DOE-OCR Title IX complaints, is admitted as an attorney pro hac vice in state and federal court if needed when representing clients nationwide, and serves as a Title IX advisor to students facing disciplinary cases in New Hampshire and throughout the nation. Make certain your or your student's interests are protected - Contact National Title IX attorney Joseph D. Lento today.
