The Chicago metropolitan area – sometimes referred to as “Chicagoland” – is home to dozens of great colleges and universities. If you're enrolled in one of them, you know first-hand how challenging pursuing your educational goals can be, particularly if you have a specific career path in mind. That's why if you learn that you've been accused of Title IX misconduct, you need to take it very seriously, or you could soon find your education brought to a sudden halt.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is here to help. Our experienced Title IX attorneys understand Title IX's complex rules and regulations and know how to defend students accused of Title IX misconduct and fight to protect their education and their future. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our Student Defense Team to learn more about how we can help.
What is Title IX?
Title IX was originally enacted to eliminate discrimination against women by colleges and universities when it came to enrollment and to providing them with the same educational and other opportunities that men received once they were students. That was back in 1972. In the decades since, the scope of Title IX has expanded considerably. It now protects students and school employees against discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and pregnancy and parenting status. Most Title IX misconduct allegations relate to non-consensual sexual contact, sexual assault, stalking, and relationship or dating violence between students.
The federal government requires schools that accept federal funding to both follow and enforce Title IX on campus, at the risk of being fined or even losing federal funds if they don't. As a result, colleges and universities take Title IX misconduct allegations very seriously. While the Title IX rules and regulations don't specify any particular penalties to be imposed on students found to have violated Title IX, schools regularly will suspend or even expel students for Title IX violations. While this may show the federal government that the school is serious about enforcing Title IX on campus, it is often very unfair to the student who faces the punishment.
This unfair treatment isn't uncommon. Schools tend to take the side of the student making the Title IX accusations, while at the same time claiming that they investigate and discipline Title IX misconduct allegations fairly. When you work with an experienced Title IX attorney, your lawyer can call your school out for its unfair actions, particularly when those actions violate its own policies or misinterpret the school's Title IX enforcement obligations.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can be there for you from the day you learn that you've been accused of Title IX misconduct. We will fight for your rights and defend you against the allegations while keeping you informed and helping you overcome the stress of being under investigation. Don't try to defend yourself against Title IX misconduct allegations; the stakes are too high. Contact the Lento Law Firm to learn more about how we can help you, as we've helped students across the country, including in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Protecting Yourself in a Title IX Case
The Chicago metropolitan area is home to many great colleges and universities. Whether you're enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston, the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, Northern Illinois University; or at a smaller school such as Lake Forest College, Elmhurst University, North Central College, Benedictine University, or the University of Wisconsin – Parkside; or at one of the many community colleges in the area, you've worked hard to get to where you are, and continue to work hard at your studies. You may have a specific career goal in mind, or you may still be exploring and using your college career to help you decide what that career will be. No matter what your situation, a Title IX misconduct allegation can significantly disrupt your college experience, and a determination that you've violated Title IX can bring a sudden stop to your education.
Unfortunately, the process of defending yourself against Title IX misconduct allegations can be difficult and may feel unfair. It's difficult because both the investigation and the disciplinary processes can be enormously stressful to go through, especially if you don't have help from an experienced Title IX attorney. It can feel unfair because, frankly, the system for investigating and resolving Title IX misconduct claims tends to be stacked against the accused student. When you work with an experienced Title IX attorney, your lawyer will help relieve much of that stress and can fight to protect your rights and greatly increase the chances that you'll be treated fairly by your school.
The best way to protect yourself when you've been accused of Title IX misconduct is to retain an experienced Title IX attorney as soon as possible once you know you've been accused. At the Lento Law Firm, our experience is that the sooner we're involved in a Title IX case, the better position our Title IX attorneys will be in to help. We'll study the allegations made against you; communicate with your school's Title IX office so that you don't have to; investigate the claims to try to find evidence to help your defense; prepare you for your interview with the Title IX investigator, and be with you when it happens; negotiate with your school on your behalf; defend you at your hearing if your case isn't resolved before then; and through all of this we will be there to answer your questions and keep you informed as to what's going on with your case.
Stages of a Title IX Case
The Title IX Misconduct Report
Schools are so eager to show the federal government that they are meeting their Title IX obligations that they make it very easy for anyone to file a Title IX misconduct complaint. The University of Chicago, for example, has an online form to “Report Harassment, Discrimination, or Sexual Misconduct” that anyone, including students, can use to file reports under the school's Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment as well as its Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct. DePaul University's “Gender Equity” webpage states, “To report allegations of sex or gender-based discrimination, harassment, or violence (including sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking), please use the button to complete and submit the report form.” Northwestern University's “Sexual Misconduct Response & Prevention” webpage includes a banner at the top of the page with a clickable link to “File a Report or Complaint.” At Elmhurst University, the school's website includes a “Title IX at Elmhurst” page that features a clickable “button” that can be used to file a Title IX Report.
These are examples. It's safe to say that all schools provide students and others with ways to file Title IX reports online or to submit reports via email to the school's Title IX office. The reports can almost always be filed quite easily. Being the target of a Title IX investigation, on the other hand, can be extremely stressful and difficult.
The Title IX Investigation
Title IX misconduct complaints will be reviewed by the school's Title IX office and, assuming they properly claim Title IX misconduct, will be referred to an investigator. The student who filed the complaint and the accused student will both receive a notice when this happens. The notice will describe the allegations, summarize the investigation and Title IX disciplinary process, and let both students know about “supportive” or “interim” measures that are available to both students.
These “supportive” measures are supposed to be equally available to both the accuser and the accused, but several of them really only apply to the accused student and significantly increase the burden of being accused of Title IX misconduct. For example, the accused student:
- May be forced to leave their current dormitory if their accuser lives in the same building;
- Can be required to change class sections if the two students share the same section;
- May lose their on-campus job or have to change shifts or locations if the accuser works at the same job location;
- In some cases, they may have to take a “leave of absence” from the school, which is essentially like being suspended except that it does not appear on the accused student's record as a suspension.
Until it's determined otherwise, your school is supposed to presume that you are “not responsible” for the Title IX misconduct you're accused of. But it's hard to take that presumption seriously when it feels as though your school is punishing you even before the Title IX investigation is complete. An experienced Title IX attorney can argue against many of these more punitive types of “supportive” measures and may be able to use their experience to suggest alternative ways of providing the accused student with the security that they may say they need.
The Title IX investigation itself may take several months. The investigator will interview both you and your accuser. Your Title IX attorney will help you prepare for your interview and can usually be present when you're being interviewed to make sure you only answer clear questions that you understand.
In addition to these interviews, the Title IX investigator may also interview witnesses who may have information that relates to the allegations. The investigator may also work to gather other evidence, such as videos, photos, social media posts, text messages, voicemails, and other evidence that may shed light on the Title IX misconduct claims.
The Title IX investigator can also consider evidence submitted by both the accuser and the accused. Your Title IX attorney can help you gather any evidence that may help your case and, in some cases, may conduct their own investigation to uncover evidence in your favor that the Title IX investigator “missed.” It's not unusual for Title IX investigators to focus only on evidence that supports the Title IX misconduct claims and spend less time looking for all of the evidence – even the evidence that helps the accused.
When the investigation is complete, the Title IX investigator will prepare a written report that both you and your accuser will be able to review and comment on. Your Title IX attorney can be extremely helpful here, providing detailed comments to the investigator about evidence that was missed or improperly characterized and any unsupported conclusions reached by the investigator in the draft report. You may only have a few days to make these comments, so it's really helpful at this stage if your Title IX attorney has been working with you from an early stage in the process.
The Formal Title IX Complaint
Once the Title IX investigator submits their report, your school's Title IX office will review it. In some cases, the Title IX case against you may be dismissed. If this happens, your accuser will be able to appeal the decision.
In other cases, your school will prepare and serve you with a formal Title IX complaint. This will describe the facts supporting the allegations against you, will list the specific ways you are accused of violating Title IX, and may propose sanctions against you. You will be able to submit a written response to this, which your Title IX attorney can do. The response can point out the facts that the complaint fails to take into account, the faulty conclusions it makes, and other logical and legal errors that may exist with it.
Negotiations
As a practical matter, most Title IX cases end with a written agreement between the accused student and the school. This is an area where an experienced Title IX attorney can be of significant help. Using their knowledge of your case, their understanding of the Title IX rules and regulations and your school's own Title IX procedures, and their experience defending many other students in many other Title IX cases, your attorney can negotiate with your school to arrive at a resolution that protects your education and your future. In some cases, depending on the facts, the school may even agree to drop the case against you, though that's an unusual result.
Hearings
Cases that aren't resolved through negotiations will proceed to a hearing. How the hearing is conducted will depend on the Title IX rules and regulations that are in force at the time your case is being heard, as well as your school's own disciplinary policies. The Title IX rules and regulations tend to change every few years, and many of these changes affect how schools are allowed to conduct Title IX hearings. Your attorney will be up to date on the most current set of rules and regulations and will also know how to defend you against the Title IX misconduct allegations you're facing.
At the Lento Law Firm, the attorneys that make up our Student Defense Team have years of experience defending students in Title IX misconduct hearings all across the US, including in the Chicago area. That experience will be used to your benefit to vigorously fight for your rights and defend you against Title IX misconduct allegations.
Note that whatever the hearing structure, schools don't need to find you responsible for Title IX misconduct using the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard that applies in criminal cases. Instead, they can use the much lower “more likely than not standard.” This is one more reason why you need the help of an experienced Title IX attorney if you're facing a Title IX misconduct hearing. When you can be suspended or expelled because your school's Title IX hearing panel or officer believes you're 51% likely to have violated Title IX, you need a strong defense – the kind you get from an experienced Title IX attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team.
Written Decision
The hearing will result in a written decision that will explain the reasoning for the result – whether the result is in your favor or goes against you. If the decision goes against you, the written decision will also state the sanctions you must face.
Appeal
Hearing results can be appealed – by the accuser if you're exonerated, and by you if the results go against you. On average, these appeals have a limited success rate, in part because the appeal is essentially made to the same entity that ruled against you, namely your school.
Lawsuit
One final possible remedy is a lawsuit. Schools are increasingly being sued by students whose rights they've trampled on during Title IX investigations and disciplinary proceedings. A lawsuit against your school can be very effective in the right circumstances, but it's a big step. Your Title IX attorney can advise you whether a lawsuit could be effective in your particular case.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team Can Help With Your Title IX Case in the Chicago Metropolitan Area
If you're facing Title IX allegations at your college or university in the Chicago metropolitan area, the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help. Our attorneys have years of experience defending students all across the country – including in Chicagoland – accused of Title IX and other serious forms of misconduct. We know the laws, rules, regulations, and school procedures that apply in Title IX misconduct cases, and we'll apply those plus our years of experience to your defense.
Don't try to defend yourself against Title IX misconduct claims! Your future is too important. Call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn how we can help you protect your education and your career.
