The east coast of Florida between Miami and West Palm Beach – sometimes called Florida's “Gold Coast” – is home to many great colleges and universities. If you're enrolled in one of them, you know how hard you've worked to get to where you are and understand how important your education is to your future. That's why if you learn you've been accused of Title IX misconduct by your school, you need to take it seriously. Schools in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach area take their Title IX enforcement obligations very seriously (as do colleges and universities all across the country). A Title IX disciplinary proceeding could mean the end of your college experience at your school and be a major roadblock to your future plans.
Your best chance to defend yourself against Title IX misconduct allegations is to be working with an experienced Title IX attorney. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is made up of lawyers who have years of experience helping college students face and defend against disciplinary proceedings, including Title IX cases. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how the Lento Law Firm can help you protect your future.
What is Title IX?
Title IX is a federal law and a set of regulations and rules that was originally intended to eliminate discrimination based on sex among applicants to colleges and universities and to make sure that once enrolled, all students had an equal opportunity to take advantage of the educational and other benefits that their college had to offer. The scope of Title IX's protections has increased significantly over the more than 40 years it's been in existence. It now protects students (as well as school personnel) against discrimination and harassment based on sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and pregnancy and parenting status.
Probably the most publicized type of Title IX misconduct is where one student is accused of some form of sexual assault, including non-consensual sexual contact, that involves another student. Schools have an obligation under Title IX to enforce Title IX's requirements on campus, which means that schools must investigate reports of Title IX misconduct and discipline students found to have violated Title IX. While Title IX doesn't tell schools how to sanction students that violate Title IX, schools that fail to properly enforce Title IX on campus risk fines and, in the worst case, loss of federal funding.
Colleges are required to appoint a Title IX officer, and most of them have a Title IX office that is responsible for educating students and staff about Title IX's requirements, reviewing and investigating reports of Title IX misconduct, and disciplining students and staff found to have violated Title IX. The problem is that many schools don't do an effective job of investigating Title IX reports or fairly administering discipline in Title IX cases. As a result, students accused of Title IX misconduct are often treated as though they are guilty, even during the early stages of the investigation; hearings may unfairly consider irrelevant or unreliable evidence, and schools may arbitrarily impose more serious penalties on some students than they impose on others for the same type of misconduct.
On top of all of this, Title IX rules and regulations regularly change. Each new presidential administration typically attempts to place its own stamp on Title IX, and as a result, schools must adjust their Title IX policies and procedures every few years to keep up with the requirements that are then in effect. Working with an experienced Title IX attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team means you will have someone on your side who understands the current state of the Title IX rules and regulations who has experience with a wide range of school disciplinary procedures, and who can fight to protect your rights and defend you against the unfair application of those procedures and school policies in your case.
Protecting Yourself in a Title IX Case
Whether you're a student at the University of Miami, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University, Florida Atlantic University, Broward College, Barry University, St. Thomas University, or another one of the many colleges and universities in the Miami to West Palm Beach corridor, you've worked hard to get to where you are. And you're probably working quite hard to excel at school so that your career will have a strong foundation. All of this work is at risk, however, if someone files a Title IX complaint against you.
Schools are so eager to prove to the federal government that they take their Title IX obligations seriously that they will often take shortcuts when it comes to investigating Title IX complaints and unfairly impose severe punishments – such as suspension or expulsion – on students found to have committed Title IX misconduct. It can be enormously distracting to find yourself the target of a Title IX misconduct investigation while you're trying to do your best at school, assuming, of course, that your school doesn't require you to take a “leave of absence” during the Title IX investigation.
How can you protect yourself? The best way is to work with an experienced Title IX attorney, someone who knows the law, who has defended other students in other cases, and who can fight for your rights from day one. At the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, we understand Title IX and how schools are supposed to apply it. We regularly protect and defend students accused of Title IX misconduct, and we know the ways schools will typically fail to properly apply their own procedures to Title IX cases. We'll be by your side, protecting and defending you and doing everything we can to make sure your case is resolved fairly and in as positive a way as possible.
Stages of a Title IX Case
The Title IX Misconduct Report
Title IX cases typically begin with someone (usually a student) filing a Title IX misconduct report that names someone else (also usually a student) as someone who committed some form of sexual misconduct against the accuser. These aren't the only types of Title IX cases, of course. Title IX also protects against discrimination or harassment based on sexual orientation and a number of other factors, and a complaint can be based on these kinds of accusations as well.
Schools typically make it easy for anyone to file a Title IX misconduct complaint. The University of Miami's Title IX page includes a link to “Report Misconduct or Discrimination.” Florida International University maintains a dedicated webpage for reporting Title IX sexual harassment or misconduct, as well as other types of misconduct prohibited by the school. Nova Southeastern University's website includes a Title IX page that links directly to a “Title IX/Sexual Misconduct Incident Initial Reporting Form.” Broward College likewise has a Title IX/Sexual Misconduct page that includes a link to its Sexual Harassment/Sexual Misconduct Reporting Form. All schools have similar reporting forms that are easily accessed and will deliver Title IX misconduct reports to the school's Title IX office for review.
The Title IX Investigation
Assuming the Title IX misconduct report makes allegations about misconduct that is prohibited by Title IX, the school's Title IX office will conduct an investigation. In most cases, the Title IX office will appoint an investigator to look into the complaint. In many cases, these investigators may not be well-trained when it comes to conducting a full, fair, and complete investigation – particularly if they uncover evidence that tends to implicate the accused student. That may be enough for them, and they may never dig deeper to find other evidence that may exonerate the accused.
Once an investigation begins, the Title IX office will notify the person who filed the complaint and the accused student about the allegations and the investigation. The notice will provide information that the Title IX rules require; this may change from time to time, but it will typically include information about the parties, the allegations, the investigation process, and resources that the person who filed the complaint has access to as the alleged victim. (The accused student is typically not offered access to resources such as counseling or other victim-oriented school programs.)
This is where things can get difficult for the accused student. Many schools will impose “interim” measures, designed mostly to protect the accuser. These can greatly disrupt the accused student's educational experience and may include:
- Requiring the accused student to change their on-campus housing, namely by being required to move to a different dormitory or leave campus housing entirely
- Removing the accused student from classes where the accuser is also present
- Changing work assignments so that the accuser does not work the same shift with the accused student
- Other measures, including requiring the accused student to take a “forced leave of absence” from the school (a suspension in all but name) until the Title IX accusations are resolved
For example, Barry University in Miami Shores has a list of “Supportive Measures” that include some of the above. While they are supposedly “offered to the parties,” the majority of these are designed to help the student making the accusation, not the student who has been accused.
The investigation itself can take months. Investigations don't follow any required format but will usually include some or all of the following:
- Interviews with the accuser and the accused
- Interviews with witnesses
- Collection of evidence, including photos, videos, emails, texts, social media posts, both between the accuser and the accused and from witnesses to the alleged event
- Consideration of information, including evidence, provided by the accuser and by the accused student
Palm Beach Atlantic University's Sexual Misconduct Policy offers a general description of its Title IX investigation as part of its “Formal Resolution Process.” This is fairly typical of policies in place at schools in this area.
Once complete, the Title IX investigator will prepare a report and will usually send the draft to both sides with so that they can offer comments before it is delivered to the Title IX office. This is where an experienced Title IX attorney can help by pointing out unfairness in the investigation process or by providing the investigator with additional evidence that is helpful to the accused student but is not mentioned in the report.
The Formal Title IX Complaint
The school's Title IX office will review the investigator's report and decide whether to proceed with a formal investigation or to dismiss the matter. If it's dismissed, the person who filed the complaint may appeal that decision. If the Title IX office decides to move forward with a formal complaint, it will draft it and send it to both parties.
The complaint will list the misconduct that the accused student is alleged to have committed, which portions of Title IX or the school conduct code the student is alleged to be in violation of; and in many cases it will also propose a specific sanction against the student. While in theory, this can range from a simple warning to expulsion, in reality, for a Title IX violation, schools are likely to look to suspend or expel the accused student. The accused student will have an opportunity to respond to the complaint; your Title IX lawyer can help here, in some cases, by responding and also, where appropriate, providing evidence not considered by the investigator that may help your case.
Negotiations
There are frequently negotiations between the Title IX office and the accused student. Most cases don't go to a hearing but are resolved through an agreement. Your Title IX attorney can be extremely helpful with this, using their knowledge of Title IX, their understanding of the school's disciplinary policies and procedures, and their experience with many other school disciplinary hearings to work to resolve your case in a way that protects your ability to continue to study at the school with as clean a record as possible.
Hearings
If your case can't be resolved with an agreement, it will proceed to a hearing. The structure of these may vary depending on the Title IX rules then in force. These rules tend to swing back and forth between hearing procedures that tend to benefit the accuser, and those that tend to benefit the accused. Either way, by working with one of the experienced Title IX attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team, you will be able to benefit by your lawyer's understanding of the most current set of Title IX rules, their knowledge of your school's disciplinary procedures, and their experience defending other students in cases across Florida, including in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach corridor.
Unlike criminal cases, Title IX disciplinary hearings do not use the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard to decide whether the accused student is responsible for the Title IX misconduct. Instead, schools only need to decide that the accused was “more likely than not” to have committed the acts; in other words, that it's at least 51% likely that the student did so. This is not a high standard and is another reason to have an experienced Title IX attorney by your side, fighting for your rights.
Written Decision
The hearing officer or panel will issue a written decision that, if it goes against you, will include the sanction that the school is imposing on you.
Appeal
If the hearing decision goes against you, you will have a chance to appeal it – to the school, not to an independent body of some type. As a result, appeals are often not successful; but it is always worth considering one, particularly if the school was unfair in how it investigated you or decided your case.
Lawsuit
It has become increasingly common for schools that impose Title IX sanctions on students to be sued by those students because of the unfair way that Title IX procedures have been applied. Your attorney can discuss this option with you if it is appropriate in your case. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a court case to draw attention to the way schools are trampling the rights of accused students.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team Can Help You With Your Title IX Case in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach Area
If you're attending school along Florida's so-called “Gold Coast” – from Miami to West Palm Beach – and you've been accused of Title IX misconduct by someone at your school or by your school, the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help. Our experienced Title IX attorneys regularly represent students accused of Title IX and other types of misconduct by schools all across Florida. We understand the laws, rules, regulations, and policies that apply in these cases, and our lawyers know how to fight to protect your rights and to defend you from unfair accusations and school procedures that could mean the end of your college dreams.
Call us today if you are facing Title IX misconduct allegations or any other school misconduct allegations. At the Lento Law Firm, we are here to listen and to help. We can be reached at 888.535.3686 or you can use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation.
