U.S. Supreme Court lets sexual harassment suits proceed against schools

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away bids by a public school district in Virginia and the University of Toledo in Ohio to avoid sexual harassment lawsuits brought by female students under a law that prohibits sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funds.

The justices in both cases declined to hear appeals of lower court rulings that allowed the lawsuits to proceed. The school board in Virginia's Fairfax County, a suburb of Washington, and the University of Toledo both sought to narrow the circumstances under which schools must face lawsuits brought under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

In the Fairfax County case, a female high school student who was sexually assaulted by a male student on a 2017 school-sponsored band trip sued the school board. The case posed the question of whether schools can be held liable for misconduct by one student against another when they do not learn about the behavior until after it ceases. The issue has divided U.S. appeals courts.

The Supreme Court had asked President Joe Biden's administration to weigh in on the school board's appeal. The Justice Department in September told the justices that schools should be held accountable for their response to sexual harassment by students that they learn about after it happens and urged the justices to deny the appeal.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-supreme-court-lets-sexual-155845866.html

[kelly1mm]

1. I am kind of confused about this holding. If the school has no prior knowledge

of sexual harassment/assault then what are they supposed to do? If there is now a strict liability standard as to sexual harassment/assault how is this going to play out? Segregation by gender?

[joshcryer]

3. Yes.

That is exactly why they took it. Make schools liable because "some schools are segregated by sex" and "don't have this problem." Then people can sue public, coed, schools into oblivion.

This is their end goal.