Title IX Standards in Teacher-Student Sexual Harassment: What Are We Teaching the Teachers - Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District

Abstract

INTRODUCTION|Title IX was enacted in 1972, and provides that "[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Title IX stemmed from Congress' desire to eradicate sexual harassment within the educational realm. The corresponding statute designed to eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace is Title VII, which forbids employers from "fail[ing] or refus[ing] to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of such individual's ... sex." Because the intents and purposes underlying Title IX and Title VII are virtually identical, as is the language employed, and because there is substantially more Title VII precedent than Title IX, many courts have looked to Title VII jurisprudence to evaluate Title IX cases...