The Austin area is home to some excellent colleges and universities, including, of course, the University of Texas and Texas State University with nearly 100,000 students between them. The area also features some of the country's most lively recreational opportunities, from outdoor adventures to famed music venues and more. If you attend school in the Austin metropolitan area, you may enjoy much of what your school and the region has to offer – unless you're facing an allegation that you've committed Title IX misconduct. Facing suspension, expulsion, or some other serious form of discipline from your school can turn college into one of the most stressful experiences of your life.
That's when you need the help of an experienced Title IX attorney. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team understands how stressful a Title IX investigation and disciplinary proceeding can be, and how important to your college learning and future career the outcome can be. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can protect your rights and defend you against Title IX misconduct allegations.
What is Title IX?
Title IX's original focus was on making sure people applying to college were treated equally – male and female applicants alike. Schools were prohibited from discriminating against women when considering them for admission and providing them with educational and other collegiate experiences once admitted. And of course, one consequence of Title IX is the significant rise of women's sports, as schools began spending the same amounts of money on women's sports as they were spending on men's.
But Title IX now relates to much more than admissions, eligibility for classes, and athletic opportunities. Its prohibitions against harassment and discrimination also mean that sexual and other types of assault allegations are in most cases treated as Title IX misconduct allegations.
Schools have an obligation to enforce Title IX on campus. If they fail to do so, they can face fines and even loss of their federal funding. The potential for these kinds of penalties is an incentive for schools to clamp down hard against students found to have committed Title IX misconduct. Doing so shows the federal government that the schools take their enforcement obligations seriously and help counter any suggestion that the schools are not living up to their enforcement obligations.
What this means, however, is that in their eagerness to prove to the federal government that they are enforcing Title IX, schools may disregard the rights of accused students. When that happens, it's the accused student who pays by finding themselves on the receiving end of disciplinary sanctions that may not be warranted under the circumstances.
This is why it's important to work with an experienced Title IX attorney if you've been accused of Title IX misconduct. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team defends students at schools all across the country, including in the Austin metropolitan area, who are facing Title IX misconduct investigations and disciplinary proceedings. These are serious matters, and you don't want to try to face them alone, especially given the risk that your school may trample on your rights in its eagerness to show how seriously it enforces Title IX on campus. You need someone on your team who isn't afraid to call out the school when it's being unfair.
Protecting Yourself in Title IX Cases
Schools across the Austin metropolitan area, including the University of Texas, Austin Community College, St. Edward's University, Concordia University Texas, or any other school in the region that accepts any federal funding will all vigorously enforce Title IX whenever a misconduct complaint is made. It's up to you if you've been accused of misconduct, to protect and defend yourself not only during any disciplinary proceeding but also during the earlier investigation.
The best way to do this is to be working with an experienced Title IX attorney from the earliest point at which you learn someone has made a Title IX complaint against you. At the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, our experienced Title IX attorneys will be with you from start to finish, explaining what's happening at each step of the process, preparing you for the investigation and any disciplinary proceeding that may happen, interacting with your school on your behalf when possible, negotiating for a fair resolution of your case, and where necessary vigorously defending you during the disciplinary hearing.
Because schools take Title IX misconduct claims so seriously, you could easily face suspension or expulsion if you're found to have committed Title IX misconduct. That's why it's so important to take your defense seriously. If you don't, you could easily find your college career brought to a screeching halt, and your future career plans derailed significantly. Working with one of the experienced Title IX attorneys from the Lento Law Firm will help you make sure you're taking every step possible to protect your rights and your future.
Stages of a Title IX Case
The Title IX Misconduct Report
While Title IX covers both students and school employees, for the most part, Title IX misconduct allegations are made by one student against another. Many of these cases involve allegations of sexual misconduct of some type or relationship-related violence. Title IX misconduct can also take the form of other types of harassment based on the student's sex, sexual orientation, sexual identification, or pregnancy or parenting status.
Reporting Title IX misconduct is something that schools make it very easy for students and employees to do. It's important for schools to show the federal government that they take their Title IX enforcement obligations seriously, and that students who attend their schools will be protected by the school against the kind of discrimination and harassment that Title IX prohibits.
Texas State University, for example, enforces Title IX through its Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX. The office's webpage includes a link for students to use to “Report Sexual Misconduct.” Austin Community College has a Title IX – Sexual Misconduct page on its website, where students can find the contact information for the school's Title IX Coordinator as well as a link to Submit an Online Report. Concordia University Texas's Title IX webpage includes a link to an Incident Reporting Form. Almost any school will have a similar webpage and report form available for students to use to file Title IX misconduct allegations. This is what typically starts the Title IX investigation and enforcement process.
The Title IX Investigation
Title IX misconduct reports are typically forwarded by the school's Title IX coordinator to an investigator, whose job it is to look into the allegations to determine whether there are grounds to impose sanctions against the accused student. These investigations can take weeks or months, depending on the situation. Both the accused student and their accuser will be notified when the school is beginning its investigation, and the accused student typically will have a chance to respond to the notice in writing.
Investigations usually involve interviews with both the accused student and the accuser. These can be critical to the process, and if you're working with a Title IX attorney your attorney will explain how they work and will help you prepare for what can be a very uncomfortable situation. Fortunately, your attorney can also be with you during the interview to make sure you're being asked fair questions and that you understand them before you answer.
The investigator may also interview other witnesses who may have information about the matter and, in some cases, will attempt to gather other types of evidence, such as videos, photos, security camera footage, dormitory log-in and log-out records, text and other messages, and the like.
One of the steps that can happen during the Title IX investigation is what some schools refer to as “interim measures.” These are things the school can do to protect the accuser to make them feel safe while on campus. While in theory, interim measures are available for both the accused student and the accuser, in reality, they have the most significant effect on the accused student. That's because typical interim measures can include:
- Requiring the accused student to change their class schedule or even drop a class so that they and their accuser are not in the same classroom or lecture hall at the same time
- Forcing the accused student to change work shifts if they work an on-campus job so that their shift and the accuser's shift don't coincide or overlap; in some cases, the accused student may be forced to leave their job if a revised work schedule isn't possible
- Moving the accused student out of their on-campus housing to avoid having both the accused and the accuser living in the same complex
- In some cases, forcing the accused student to take a “voluntary” leave of absence while the investigation and disciplinary process takes its course
It's easy to see how these interim measures can radically change the educational experience for the accused student. When you work with one of the experienced Title IX attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, you'll have someone on your side who can fight to preserve your college experience while still accommodating the legitimate concerns of your accuser. In many cases, we can suggest alternatives to the typical interim measures that won't leave you feeling as though your school has decided you're responsible for Title IX misconduct before the investigation is even complete.
In some cases, we may conduct our own investigation of the allegations against you. We might do this if we feel the school's Title IX investigator is focusing too much on finding evidence against you and not enough on simply uncovering the facts of the case. We may also investigate on our own if it appears the Title IX investigator has simply missed key evidence that could help you defend against the allegations you're facing.
At the close of the investigation, the Title IX investigator will prepare a written report. You will, in most cases, receive a draft of this and will have a deadline to respond. This is where your Title IX attorney can provide the investigator with some of that “missed” evidence, as well as arguments that focus on flaws in the investigation or the reasoning process used by the investigator in the report. While the investigator isn't required to adopt your attorney's arguments, it can be helpful in later proceedings to be able to show how the problems with the school's case were brought to the investigator's attention.
Once final, the investigator will provide their report to the Title IX office for further action.
The Formal Complaint
In some cases, the Title IX investigator's report will be favorable to you, and your school's Title IX office may decide to take no action on the Title IX misconduct report that was made against you. When that happens, the matter will be closed but your accuser will have a chance to appeal the decision.
If, on the other hand, your school's Title IX office decides that there is support for the misconduct allegations made against you, it will generally produce a formal complaint that will describe the facts against you, the misconduct you're accused of committing, and in many cases one or more proposed sanctions to be applied against you. You'll, of course, have the right to respond to this, and your Title IX attorney will be in a position to do so thoroughly and quickly if they have been working with you from day one.
The Negotiations
Most Title IX misconduct cases resolve themselves with some sort of agreement between the accused student and the school. These agreements are typically the result of negotiations between the student's Title IX attorney and the school's Title IX office. Having an attorney who can point out the flaws in the school's case can make a significant difference when it comes to negotiating a result that will allow you to continue your education and protect your future.
The Hearing
When a Title IX case doesn't settle, it will almost always proceed to a hearing. How this hearing is structured depends on the Title IX rules that are in place at the time, as well as the way your school interprets those rules. Working with an attorney who has experience defending other students in Title IX misconduct cases means you'll have someone on your team who knows what it takes to mount a serious defense and can use that experience to help defend you.
It's important to understand the low level of proof that applies in Title IX cases. Instead of the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal cases, Title IX misconduct hearings use the much lower “more likely than not” evidentiary standard. In other words, if the hearing tribunal believes that it is more likely than not that you committed the misconduct, you'll be found responsible. That low level of proof is yet another reason to be working with an experienced Title IX attorney if you're facing misconduct charges. You need all the help you can get when you can be sanctioned if the tribunal believes that it's 51% likely you committed misconduct.
The Decision
After the Title IX hearing, the tribunal will issue a written decision. This should lay out the facts that the tribunal determined at the hearing, and their conclusion about whether or not you are responsible for Title IX misconduct.
If the ruling is in your favor, your accuser will have a chance to appeal it. If it goes against you, then you will be able to appeal, but any sanction that the tribunal recommends may go into effect immediately.
The Appeal
It can be difficult to successfully appeal the decision of a Title IX tribunal because the typical grounds for appeal are quite limited, and appeals are made to the school – the same school that just ruled against you. That said, your Title IX attorney can advise you whether an appeal might be successful in your case if the tribunal has ruled against you.
Lawsuits
More and more schools are finding themselves defendants in lawsuits brought by students accused of Title IX misconduct. Many of these lawsuits are based on the school's failure to protect the rights of the accused students in their eagerness to pursue Title IX misconduct claims on behalf of the accuser.
Of course, not every Title IX case will support a lawsuit. If you work with the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, our experienced Title IX attorneys can advise you whether a lawsuit might be warranted in your case. Where appropriate, we can file and vigorously pursue such lawsuits on your behalf.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team Can Help With Your Title IX Case in the Austin Metropolitan Area
As a student attending school in the Austin metropolitan area, you are entitled to an experienced and vigorous defense if you're facing allegations that you've committed Title IX misconduct. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team has the experience you need to protect yourself in this kind of a situation. We regularly defend students at schools all across the country who have been accused of Title IX and other serious forms of misconduct, and we will use our knowledge and experience of school misconduct proceedings to protect and defend you as well.
If you're facing a Title IX misconduct claim at your Austin metropolitan area school, call the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced Title IX attorneys. Sanctions as a result of Title IX misconduct can be severe and can derail your educational and career plans for years to come. Let the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team help you protect your future!
