A student at Ohio University claims that she was sexually assaulted, raped, and emotionally abused by a football player at the school. She has filed a Title IX complaint against the football player as well as the college, itself, demanding that the school compensate her for her experiences.
The lawsuit exemplifies much of what is wrong with what Title IX law has become.
Title IX Lawsuit at Ohio University
The lawsuit, filed by an unnamed woman at Ohio University, claims that she was dating one of the football players on the school's team for two years, Amir Miller. During that time, though, she claims that she was “systematically physically, sexually, and emotionally abused” by Miller. When she reported the incidents to the school, though, she claims that the school did nothing to help.
When she ended the relationship, Miller stalked her both on and off-campus. Those incidents led police to arrest Miller and charge him with menacing by stalking, a felony-level offense. That arrest led to a variety of other, independent, offenses like weapons possession and forgery. He pled guilty to stalking in order to have those other charges dismissed and so he could participate in a diversion program but was then arrested by campus police for violating a restraining order.
The alleged victim has filed her Title IX lawsuit against Miller, for the pain and emotional distress he allegedly caused her, and the school for gender discrimination when they did not intervene.
Student Demands Money from College for Bad Dating Experience
Let's assume that everything in the alleged victim's lawsuit is true: Let's assume that she was in a long, abusive relationship with someone at her college and that, when she broke up with him, he stalked her and got arrested.
Even if all of that did happen, why does that entitle her to the more than $50,000 that she's demanding from her college?
In her lawsuit, she claims that Ohio University didn't do enough to stop her boyfriend from being abusive. She claims that she reported his abuse, but it was not stopped.
How is a college supposed to step in and stop an incident of dating violence? It is enough for the school to inform or even reprimand the accused student? Are accusers demanding that the alleged perpetrator be expelled?
This says nothing of the obvious repercussions: If we're demanding the colleges be involved in dating relationships, then they will become involved in dating relationships. How intrusive do we want colleges to be? Are they going to have a registry of all of the couples on campus? Are they going to monitor couples for signs of abusive behavior?
The slippery slope from the insinuations and outright demands made in this and other Title IX allegations is a very short one to a dystopian future.
Title IX Defense and National Advising With Joseph D. Lento
Joseph D. Lento is a Title IX defense lawyer and a national Title IX advisor. He's watched the development of Title IX law and has grown concerned that things have come too far. Contact him online or call his law office at (888) 535-3686 for help.
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