Plaintiff, a student at the defendant university, alleged that she was sexually assaulted by another student at the university. The university initially expelled the alleged assaulter but later readmitted him after he was acquitted on criminal charges brought in connection with the plaintiff’s allegations. Plaintiff then filed a lawsuit under Title IX of the Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act alleging that the university acted unreasonably when it readmitted the other student and when it refused to provide her with additional safety measures beyond a no-contact order. The Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc, affirmed, finding that no reasonable jury could find that the university was deliberately indifferent where it supported the plaintiff, separated her from the alleged assaulter, investigated the misconduct, and took disciplinary action. The Seventh Circuit further explained that a school that reasonably responds to student-on-student harassment with measures aimed at ending the misconduct and limiting further harassment does not act with deliberate indifference. (SCUDDER, ST. EVE, LEE, KOLAR, TAIBLESON, concurring; BRENNAN, specially concurring; EASTERBROOK, specially concurring; and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, ROVNER, PRYOR, and MALDONADO, dissenting)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Civil Rights Act