As a student at one of the many fine colleges or universities in the Cleveland area, you probably already know that Cleveland rocks – after all, it is the home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and is an entertainment and cultural hub for northern Ohio. What doesn't rock, however, is if you're accused of Title IX misconduct by someone at your school. In addition to being under investigation for weeks or months, you face the possibility of having your education brought to a sudden halt if your school suspends or expels you.
That's why you need the help of an experienced member of the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team if you've been accused of Title IX misconduct. You need to take this seriously, and with a Title IX attorney from the Lento Law Firm in your corner, you'll be able to take comfort in knowing that someone with experience in defending students accused of Title IX misconduct is protecting your rights and defending you against the allegations you're facing. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help.
What is Title IX?
Title IX is the term that is used to describe a number of federal requirements that apply to any college or university that accepts federal funding – which means the vast majority of college-level schools across the country, including in the Cleveland metropolitan area. Its original focus back in 1972, when it was passed into law, was to prohibit schools from discriminating on the basis of sex when considering students for admission and to require schools to provide equal educational and other opportunities to admitted students no matter what their sex was.
In the decades since, the scope of Title IX has expanded significantly. In addition, of course, to requiring equality when it comes to the resources schools devote to collegiate athletics, Title IX also prohibits discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and pregnancy and parenting status. Schools are required to enforce Title IX on campus to make sure that its protections apply to both students and school employees. Schools that fail to adequately protect students and employees against Title IX discrimination and harassment face potential fines as well as the possibility of losing their federal funding entirely.
As a result, schools tend to vigorously enforce Title IX and will often sanction students who violate it quite severely – including by suspending or even expelling them. Unfortunately, in their eagerness to show the federal government that they're taking their Title IX obligations seriously, it's not unusual for schools to ignore the rights of the students accused of Title IX misconduct. When that happens, having an experienced Title IX attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can make a significant difference in how your school treats you as an accused student. It can also make a difference in your chances of coming out the other end of the Title IX misconduct process with your educational future intact.
While Title IX originally focused on the admissions process, Title IX misconduct cases now tend to focus on allegations that one student committed some form of sexual assault or dating violence against another student. In some cases, the allegations may be that the accused student discriminated against or harassed another student based on that student's sex, sexual orientation, or sexual identity.
While Title IX rules and regulations state that accused students should be treated as “not responsible” until the school's investigation and disciplinary process finds otherwise, schools will regularly treat accused students as though they've committed the misconduct that they're accused of – even if there has been no formal determination made that the accused student did so. This can be very frustrating for the accused student.
If you're working with one of the Title IX attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, however, you'll have someone on your side who can fight to protect your rights, your education, and your experience on campus while your school moves forward with the Title IX investigation and disciplinary process. Our Title IX attorneys are ready to help you from the moment you learn you're being accused of Title IX misconduct.
Protecting Yourself in Title IX Cases
Because schools need to show the federal government that they are taking their Title IX enforcement obligations seriously, most schools across the country – including in the Cleveland metropolitan area – will make it easy for students to file Title IX misconduct complaints. Whether you're attending Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, Lake Erie College, or any of the other foreign schools in the Cleveland metropolitan area, it's a safe bet that your school will make it very easy for one student to file a Title IX misconduct report against another student.
When a Title IX misconduct report is filed, typically with the school's Title IX or other designated office, and assuming it reports the kind of misconduct that Title IX protects against, the school will open an investigation and begin the Title IX misconduct process. This is the best time to get the help of an experienced Title IX attorney – as soon as possible after you learn you've been accused of misconduct.
Your attorney will make sure that your bases are covered – that your rights are protected during the investigation process, that you meet the deadlines imposed by your school for various stages of the case, and that throughout, you understand what's happening. If you work with an experienced Title IX attorney, your lawyer will do much of the communication with your school about your case that you'd normally be responsible for if you were trying to defend yourself.
On top of that, you'll be able to benefit from the years of experience your attorney has earned by defending other students accused of Title IX misconduct in other cases. You won't have to guess what to do next or what the best way might be to defend yourself against the Title IX misconduct allegations – your attorney will be able to handle that. At every step of your case – the investigation, any negotiations with your school, or at a disciplinary hearing – you'll benefit from your Title IX attorney's experience.
Given how seriously schools take Title IX misconduct allegations – suspensions and expulsions are not uncommon consequences – it makes sense to get someone on your side who will also take your case seriously and who knows how to protect you from day one. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is ready to help you if you're facing a Title IX investigation or disciplinary proceeding.
Stages of a Title IX Case
The Title IX Misconduct Report
It's very easy to file a Title IX misconduct report. Schools want to show that they take their Title IX enforcement obligations seriously, so they provide students with links to online Title IX misconduct reports, email addresses to which misconduct reports can be sent, phone numbers that students can use to call in misconduct reports, and even ways to make Title IX misconduct complaints in person.
Cleveland State, for example, accepts Title IX misconduct reports through its Office of Institutional Equity and notifies students that they can make reports by phone or email. John Carroll University's Title IX webpage includes a prominent clickable box near the top of its Title IX page for students to use to “Submit a Report to the Title IX Office.” Baldwin Wallace University has an online Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct Report Form that students can use to make Title IX misconduct reports to that school. Case Western's Office of Equity maintains a “Sex discrimination and sex-based harassment” webpage that notes that “The Office for Equity can be reached by calling, emailing or visiting the Office for Equity, or completing the form here” and links to an online reporting form that students can use.
This is going to be the case for essentially every single college or university that accepts any funding from the federal government. They will make it easy for students to file Title IX misconduct complaints in one or more ways. These misconduct reports are the typical first step in the Title IX misconduct process.
The Title IX Investigation
After a Title IX misconduct report has been submitted, the school's Title IX office will review it and, assuming it properly alleges Title IX misconduct, will assign it to an investigator. The investigator's role is to look into the allegations to determine whether they are supported by evidence. Once the investigator is assigned, both the accused student and their accuser will be notified. Each will have a chance to respond to the notice, and each can expect to be interviewed by the investigator as part of the Title IX misconduct investigation.
The investigation may be over in a few weeks or may drag out for months; each case is different. Your attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team will keep you up to date on what's happening in your case and what's likely to happen next. They'll also prepare you for your interview with the Title IX investigator, and they can even be there with you for the interview to make sure the questions you're asked are clear, fair, and understandable.
Of course, if there are other people who may have information about the allegations made against you, the investigator may interview them as well. In addition, the investigator may seek other types of evidence, such as text message, phone records, surveillance and mobile device images and videos, and other materials that may relate to your case.
During the investigation stage, your school may attempt to take “interim measures” that can significantly affect your school experience. These interim measures are on the surface, designed to help your accuser feel safe while on campus, which of course is not a problem – except when they unfairly make you feel as though you're being held responsible for the accused misconduct even while the investigation is still ongoing.
“Interim measures” can include the following:
- You may be forced to switch class sections so that your accuser doesn't have to be in the same classroom or lecture hall at the same time as you are
- If there is no other section for the class you share with your accuser, you may have to drop the class or take it online
- If you and your accuser work together at an on-campus job, your schedule may be changed so that the two of you don't work together or you may be forced to move to another job entirely
- You might have to move to a completely different dorm if you and your accuser live in the same one; if alternative on-campus housing isn't available, you may have to move off campus
- You may be “asked” or even required to take a “leave of absence” pending the resolution of your case
Again, your school may attempt to impose these interim measures while the investigation against you is still proceeding. Instead of feeling as though your school is honoring its obligation to treat you as though you're “not responsible,” these interim measures may make you feel as though the decision against you has already been made.
But if you have one of the experienced Title IX attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team on your side, you'll have someone who can argue against the more extreme interim measures – while at the same time helping the school find ways to make your accuser feel safe on campus that don't have such a severe impact on your educational experience.
Your Title IX attorney might decide to conduct their own investigation of the allegations against you. Why do this when there is a Title IX investigator already looking into the matter? Because the Title IX investigator is appointed by the school and may be more focused on finding that you're responsible for the misconduct than on finding all of the facts, good or bad, that may support your accuser's claim or support your defense against that claim. By conducting an investigation of their own, your Title IX attorney may be able to uncover helpful evidence that was “missed” or ignored by the school's Title IX investigator.
When the investigation finishes, the investigator will prepare a draft report that you and your accuser will receive a copy of. You'll be able to comment on the draft – something that your Title IX attorney can do much more easily if they've been working with you from day one of your Title IX case. Comments can include pointing out evidence that the investigator missed or chose not to talk about in the draft report. It can also take issue with any assumptions made by the investigator as well as the conclusions they've reached.
The investigator isn't required to accept your attorney's arguments but may choose to do so in their final report. This final report is sent to the school's Title IX office (or equivalent), whose job it is to file formal charges or decide to close your case without filing any.
The Formal Complaint
If the Title IX investigator's report determines that you were not responsible for the Title IX misconduct you're accused of committing, your school will likely drop the case. Your accuser, however, will have a chance to appeal that decision.
If the Title IX investigator's report argues that you were responsible for Title IX misconduct, your school's Title IX office will likely accept that recommendation and draft formal charges against you. These will be sent to you, and you'll have a chance to respond to them in writing.
When the Title IX investigator report is in your favor, it's likely the school's Title IX office will decide to close the matter. If they do that, your accuser will have a chance to appeal the decision.
The Negotiations
It's at this stage that negotiations between your attorney and the school will typically occur. These negotiations can result in disposing of your case with as little effect on your education as possible. If the negotiations are not moving in a favorable direction, your attorney can end them and focus on defending you at your hearing.
At the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, our attorneys regularly negotiate favorable resolutions for our clients at schools all across the country. While each case is different, you'll almost always benefit if your Title IX attorney is able to use the facts of your case and their experience from having represented others to negotiate forcefully on your behalf.
The Hearing
Most cases settle. Those that don't will proceed to a hearing. What that hearing is like will depend on the Title IX rules and regulations that are in force at the time of your hearing and on how your school has interpreted those rules and regulations. If you work with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, you'll be working with someone who has the experience, knowledge, and ability to stay on top of how your school is going to conduct your hearing. They'll also know how to use their experience to best defend you at that hearing.
It helps tremendously to have an experienced attorney on your side during the hearing. The burden of proof in these cases is low – basically, if the hearing tribunal believes that it's more likely you committed misconduct than you didn't, you'll be found responsible. This is a much lower standard of proof than the one we're all familiar with from crime dramas – the “beyond a reasonable doubt.” When the school's burden of proof is that low, you need all of the firepower you can get to protect your rights and defend yourself against the allegations you're facing.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team understands what's at stake in Title IX misconduct cases. We'll be by your side, protecting your rights and vigorously defending you all the way through your hearing.
The Decision
The decision in your case, if it's gone to a hearing, will be in writing. If it's in your favor, your case will be over (though your accuser may choose to appeal it). If it goes against you, the decision may also include the sanctions you have to face, which typically will go into effect immediately, even if you appeal.
The Appeal
Appeals in Title IX misconduct cases are possible, but the grounds for appeal are limited and the chances are typically not great because you're appealing to the same entity that just ruled against you – your school. Your Title IX attorney can help you decide whether an appeal makes sense in your case if the hearing tribunal has decided against you.
Lawsuits
Because so many schools are disregarding the rights of accused students during Title IX misconduct cases, lawsuits against those schools are becoming increasingly common. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help you decide if a lawsuit would be an effective way to help enforce your rights in your case.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team Can Help With Your Title IX Case in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area
If you are facing Title IX misconduct allegations from another student or from your school in the Cleveland metropolitan area, contact the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team for help. We understand how Title IX cases are investigated and resolved by schools, and we also know how to protect your rights if you've been accused of Title IX misconduct. We'll use that information to protect you, as we've protected students in similar cases all across the country.
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 attorneys. Let us tell you how we can help you protect your education and your future!
