Supreme Court Takes Up Title IX Protections For College Coaches And Professors

The U.S. Supreme Court has announced its intention to hear a case involving whether Title IX’s sex discrimination protections apply to college coaches and professors, not just students. Appellate courts have diverged in their opinions as to whether the civil rights law applicable to federally funded schools covers school employees as well as students. This case involves a former Augusta University art professor and Georgia Tech women’s basketball coach who claim that Title IX safeguards should apply to them.

After an investigation into workplace conduct, Augusta found that Thomas Crowther had violated the school’s sexual harassment policy, resulting in his suspension and non-renewal of his contract. Crowther sued, claiming retaliation and sex discrimination. Although a district court found in his favor in 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the lower court’s decision.

Georgia Tech fired MaChelle Joseph in 2019, citing an investigation finding that she had acted abusively toward her players. In filing suit, Joseph argued that the university fired her in retaliation for her complaints about how it treated women’s sports and athletes. Joseph’s suit also was eventually heard by the Eleventh Circuit along with Crowther’s suit. A panel of the Eleventh Circuit found that while Congress contemplated Title IX protecting students from sex discrimination, the extension of those protections to employees was less clear.

Currently, eight circuit courts have interpreted Title IX to apply to sex discrimination claims by school employees, whereas three have reached the opposite conclusion. This split is likely the major reason that the Supreme Court granted the former employees’ petition for certiorari, along with the U.S. Solicitor General’s amicus brief supporting a resolution of the split in the circuits on the issue.

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