Sexual Harassment at School

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity that receives Federal money. Sexual harassment at school is a form of sex discrimination that is prohibited whether the harassment is by an employee of the school, by a fellow student, or by a third party. What follows is information that both schools and students should know about sexual harassment.

There are two kinds of sexual harassment. "Quid pro quo" sexual harassment occurs when an employee of the school causes a student to believe that the student's submission to sexual advances or request for sexual favors will affect his or her grades or ability to participate in an educational program. "Hostile environment" sexual harassment occurs when a student is subjected to sexually harassing conduct that is so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it limits the student's ability to participate in or benefit from an education program or activity.

One example of quid pro quo sexual harassment is when a teacher tells a student that he or she will get a better grade in a class by dating the teacher. Another example is if an admissions officer makes it clear to an applicant that he or she will be accepted into an educational program if the applicant performs sexual acts. A school can be held liable for an incident of quid pro quo sexual harassment by its employees even if it only occurs once and the school had no way of knowing that the incident would happen. It does not matter whether or not the student complies with the school employee's request for sexual favors. It also does not matter whether or not the employee actually carries through with any of the threatened consequences if the student does not comply.

Since a school can be held liable for even a single incident of quid pro quo sexual harassment, it is important for schools to take preventative measures against this type of problem. The school should adopt a policy against sexual harassment and make sure that its employees know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. Schools should also be responsive to complaints of quid pro quo sexual harassment and not ignore them. The damages suffered by the student may ultimately be lessened if the school reacts quickly to the student's complaint. A student who feels that the incident was adequately resolved by the school is less likely to file a lawsuit.

The hostile environment type of sexual harassment can occur when a student's benefit from or participation in an education program or activity is limited due to sexually harassing conduct. This type of harassment can occur in many ways, but the requirement is that the sexually harassing conduct must be sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive. It does not need to be all three. For example, a single incident of sexual assault could be sufficiently severe to constitute sexual harassment even though it is not persistent or pervasive. Persistent requests for a date may constitute sexual harassment, even if the behavior does not appear to be particularly egregious. Hostile environment sexual harassment can only be determined by considering all of the relevant facts and circumstances. Some, but not all, of the facts and circumstances to be considered are the ages of the students involved, the severity of the behavior, the number of incidents, any noticeable impact on the victim, and any indications the victim gave that the behavior was unwelcome. None of these facts alone are conclusive. For example, there may have been no indication by the student that the activity was unwelcome, yet hostile environment sexual harassment may still be found. This is because, in some circumstances, a student may reasonably believe that complaining will only make the situation worse. Or the student may not be aware of any procedure for complaining. Or the student may feel that school authorities condone the behavior.

Title IX requires schools to establish a policy against sex discrimination and to adopt and publish grievance procedures for resolving sex discrimination complaints. This includes complaints of sexual harassment. The school should make sure that students, parents and employees all know about these policies and procedures. If a school does not have a policy against sexual harassment or if it does not address complaints of sexual harassment, then it can be held liable for any sexual harassment that occurs.

For more information about the requirements of Title IX, check out the department of education's website at www.ed.gov.