From Inside Higher Ed:
A federal appeals court on Friday revived a lawsuit accusing Columbia University of engaging in illegal antimale bias in the way it responded in 2013 to a female student's allegation of sex assault by a male student.
The suit was filed under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars sex discrimination by colleges receiving federal funds. The finding could be significant not only for those in the case but for many other colleges involved in litigation over their findings on sex assault allegations.
A growing number of male students whose colleges have found them guilty of sex assaults have gone to court and successfully won rulings against those institutions. But those court wins for male students have largely been in cases based on due process and procedural rights (arguments that have been particularly effective at public institutions).
Until recently, Title IX lawsuits by male students involved in sex assault cases have largely been rejected by courts. There have been some other wins for male students, but this one comes from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and thus sets a precedent in that circuit and could be influential elsewhere.
"The decision will encourage many more courts not to dismiss comparable Title IX complaints at early stages. That means more litigation, more discovery and more settlements," Gary Pavela, editor of the Association of Student Conduct Administration's Law and Policy Report and former president of the International Center for Academic Integrity, said via email. "More settlements are likely because not many university defendants (or their insurance companies) want juries deciding these matters, especially when standards for consent are so broadly and vaguely written." ...
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