A federal appellate court Wednesday denied a request by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville to have a Title IX lawsuit dismissed.
A former UA-Fayetteville student in 2016 filed a lawsuit alleging the school acted with “deliberate indifference” in 2014 when she reported being raped by another student.
Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools receiving federal funding, and federal authorities have said that under Title IX schools must promptly and effectively address sexual harassment and sexual violence.
The university argued in court documents that the state’s sovereign immunity should lead the case to be dismissed. In November 2016, U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes ruled that “dismissal is inappropriate at this stage,” and the university then turned to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Eighth Circuit Judge Duane Benton, in a 10-page opinion, wrote: “By accepting federal funds, the University in fact consented to suits for compensatory damages for violations of Title IX.”
In February 2017, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge — joined by other Republican attorneys general from six states — filed a legal brief supporting the university in its argument. Attorneys general from Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas joined with Rutledge in the filing.
The former student’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, named UA-Fayetteville and the UA governing board as defendants.
Allegations include that the university improperly handled a campus disciplinary process, failed to properly train a hearing panel and did not put in place policies to clarify “the procedure for trainers, coaches and student-athletes to follow when a student-athlete is the victim of sexual assault.”
In court documents filed in 2016, UA said it “promptly provided” the former student with “extensive resources and overwhelming support throughout the pendency of her case.”
Read Thursday's Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
