{ What is Sexual Harassment? }

As lawsuits involving sexual harassment are resolved, new interpretations and legal concepts often emerge. Some of the more important historical developments are listed below.

1979

1979, the Supreme Court ruled that an individual could initiate a private lawsuit against an educational institution for violation of Title IX (Connon v. Unviersity of Chicago).

1980
In 1980, a U.S. Circuit Court ruled that quid pro quo harassment was a form of illegal sex discrimination as defined by Title IX (Alexander v. Yale).
 

1984
Courts have generally held professors in academic settings to a higher or stricter standard of conduct than supervisors in employment settings. "University professors occupy an important place in our society and have concomitant ethical obligations." (Korf v. Ball State).
 

1992

Until 1992, there were relatively few Title IX court cases involving sexual harassment of university students. The Supreme Court's 1992 ruling that allowed complainants to sue for monetary damages under Title IX resulted in a tremendous increase in litigation.

In 1992, the Supreme Court also ruled that students could recover monetary damages under Title IX for sexual harassment and that hostile environment sexual harassment was prohibited under Title IX (Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools).

1995, 1993
A student at Penn in 1993 successfully brought sexual harassment charges against an English professor, who subsequently resigned his position. After his resignation, the student learned that the professor had been asked to leave his former faculty position at Bates College due to sexual harassment allegations. In 1995, the student initiated civil suits against Penn for negligent hiring and Bates College for failing to warn Penn about the professor's record.

1996

Courts have traditionally been reluctant to interfere with or overrule university disciplinary procedures in sexual harassment cases. However, in one recent case (Cohen v. San Bernadino Valley College, 1996), a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the institution violated the professor's right to free speech by enforcing an unconstitutionally vague sexual harassment policy and disciplining the instructor. The university is appealing the decision.

Two universities in 1996 (William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University) initiated lawsuits against individual faculty members found guilty of sexual harassment, claiming that the professors were personally liable for any damage awards, not the institutions.

1998
In the summer of 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that school corporations (and in all likelihood universities) could not be held financially liable under Title IX for student sexual harassment committed by a school employee, if the administration were unaware of the misconduct. This ruling underscores the importance of filing a formal complaint with the educational institution and giving administrators an opportunity to stop the harassment, before seeking an attorney and filing a lawsuit. Only in instances when university administrators display "deliberate indifference" to a student's complaint can the institution be held liable.