In April of 2024, the Department of Education approved New Title IX rules, which are scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2024. Our firm is closely monitoring ongoing challenges to these new rules in court, and is working hard to provide you the most up-to-date information. Click here to learn about the current state of Title IX and how we can help if you are facing accusations.
Employees of Arkansas colleges and universities generally have outstanding jobs and careers. Working in Arkansas higher education, with a bright and ambitious student population dedicated to their own learning and development, is a privilege, whether you are a professor, instructor, administrator, support services staff, or a student teaching, research, or resident assistant, or employed in operations roles like health services, food services, information technology, transportation, maintenance, or custodial services. You got an Arkansas college or university job, and very likely, you want to keep the job. Unfortunately, Title IX sexual misconduct charges increasingly threaten the jobs, careers, and reputations of college and university employees. When a college or university student accuses another of Title IX sexual misconduct, the accused is likely to have many good questions. Learn what you need for your best defense. Above all, retain premier Title IX defense attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Title IX defense team. Get the help you need to preserve your Arkansas college or university job and career.
Title IX Charges in Arkansas Colleges and Universities
Title IX is the federal law that prohibits schools receiving federal funding from discriminating against students based on their sex, affecting their access to education. Title IX applies across Arkansas at schools like the University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech, the University of Central Arkansas, and dozens of other community colleges and public and private undergraduate and graduate programs. Title IX rules and regulations change frequently. The Department of Education adopted new Title IX rules not long ago and has proposed yet another round of significant Title IX changes. In general, Title IX prohibits not only sex discrimination in admissions, retention, grades, and graduation but also several forms of sexual violence, including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual harassment. Students who suffer one or more of those wrongs may complain to school Title IX officials, causing those officials to bring Title IX charges. Title IX also places reporting obligations on some school employees, the violation of which could lead to another form of Title IX charge. Learn more about Title IX sexual misconduct charges.
Title IX Risks for College and University Employees
Students accuse other students of Title IX sexual misconduct in many cases, often those involving questions of voluntariness and consent in dating or other social relationships. But students also accuse college and university employees of Title IX sexual misconduct. School employees who sexually assault or harass students may well have unlawfully interfered with the student's education, requiring the school to pursue Title IX charges against its own employee. A school employee's sexual violence like rape, date rape, and unwanted sexual touching, or sexual harassment like unwelcome sexual advances or sexual jokes or slurs can discourage a student from class attendance and other access to educational facilities, depending on the employee's role and the misconduct's circumstances. Title IX cases have even arisen from an employee's sexual misconduct toward a student at off-campus social events. Given the student's subordinate role on campus relative to school employees, any sexual relationship between a student and a school employee could potentially give rise to Title IX charges. But consider these clear examples:
- The professor who conditions a grade or other educational advantage on a student's submission to unwelcome sexual advances
- The department chair or program director who offers or withholds enrollment, advancement, honors, or other privileges conditioned on a sexual relationship with the student
- The staff member who offers or withholds an educational resource depending on the student's willingness to submit to sexual contact
- The administrator who fails or refuses to act on a Title IX complaint or other evidence or allegation of Title IX violations
- The student services employee who conditions the provision of the service on submission to sexual advances
- The operations employee who engages in sexual relations with a student in exchange for access to school facilities or resources
The Stakes for College and University Employees
The obvious result when a school finds that one of its employees committed Title IX sexual misconduct is lost employment. Arkansas colleges and universities must take their Title IX obligations seriously, or they could lose their federal funding. Employment termination is typically the default sanction unless the employee defends and defeats the charges. Getting fired from your job is bad enough, but it could also mean not getting another job in your career field somewhere else. And lost employment isn't the only bad result. If your employment is as a student teaching assistant, research assistant, or resident advisor, your school may also kick you out of your educational program. Indeed, many college and university employees are participating in some form of educational program at their school of employment, whether a doctoral, master's degree, or certification program. Title IX charges risk not just the job but the related education. Title IX charges put everything for which you've studied and worked on the line. Take Title IX charges most seriously.
Retain a Premier College Employee Defense Attorney
Depending on the employee's contract terms and whether the school is public or private, the school will often have to provide an accused employee with due process. Due process means notice of the Title IX charges and a fair opportunity to defend the charges. National Title IX defense advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm offer premier Title IX defense services at colleges and universities across Arkansas. Attorney advisor Lento has the premier skills, experience, and reputation for a winning defense of Title IX charges, having successfully defended hundreds of college and university students and employees against Title IX charges. Don't wait until it's too late. Retain attorney advisor Lento and the Lento Law Firm Title IX defense team now. Call 888-535-3686 or go online.
