U.S. Supreme Court Allows Tandem Access for Title IX Claims

January 26, 2009 by Lee Gaby

A unanimous decision of the nation’s highest court clears the way for harassment and gender equity claims seeking monetary damages under Federal civil rights statutes to be pressed against school districts, without having to wait on the outcome of Title IX administrative remedies. In Fitzgerald v. Barnstable the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the lower courts. The plaintiffs in this case can now proceed to seek monetary damages for injuries alledged to result from sexual harrassment by an elementary school student. The full text of the case can be found on the website of the U.S.Supreme Court at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/