Harvard Law School Signs Agreement to End Title IX Investigation Into Sexual Harassment

The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education announced that it has signed a resolution agreement with Harvard Law School after determining that the law school was in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in regard to sexual harassment and sexual assault. The Department of Education had found that the law school’s policies and procedures failed to comply with Title IX’s requirements for prompt and equitable response to complaints of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The department also found that the law school did not appropriately respond to two student complaints of sexual assault.

Under the terms of the agreement, the law schools will:

• Revise all applicable sexual harassment policies and procedures to comply with Title IX and provide clear notice of which policy and procedure applies to Law School complaints;
• Through its Title IX Coordinator, coordinate provision of appropriate interim steps to provide for the safety of the complainant and campus community during an investigation;
• Share information between the Harvard University Policy Department and the University and notify complainants of their right to file a Title IX complaint with the Law School as well as to pursue the criminal process in cases of sexual assault or other sexual violence;
• Notify students and employees about the Law School’s Title IX coordinators and their contact information;
• Train staff and provide information sessions for students on the policies and procedures applicable to Law School complaints;
• Conduct annual climate assessments to assess whether the steps and measures being taken by the Law School are effective and to inform future proactive steps to be taken by Law School;
• Review any complaints of sexual harassment filed during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years to carefully scrutinize whether the Law School investigated the complaints consistent with Title IX and provide any additional remedies necessary for the complainants; and
• Track and submit for OCR’s review information on all sexual harassment/violence complaints and reports of sexual harassment/violence filed during the course of the monitoring and responsive action taken by the Law School.

Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education, stated that she was “very pleased to bring to close one of our longest-running sexual violence investigations, and I congratulate Harvard Law School for now committing to comply with Title IX and immediately implement steps to provide a safe learning environment for its students.”

A copy of the agreement may be viewed here.