More on Colorado and Title IX: Erik Brady of USA Today has an article on the impact the Colorado recruiting scandal could have on other schools.

Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds, is best known in its sports context for a three-part formula that determines if schools are fairly apportioning opportunities to play. Less well known is that schools can be sued for monetary damages under Title IX for knowingly allowing sexual harassment to take place in any setting, including athletic ones.



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"We are watching the case closely," says Tom Hutton, an attorney for the National School Boards Association in Alexandria, Va. "It depends on how narrowly or how broadly the case is interpreted. But if the overall environment at a school can serve as actual notice (of sexual harassment), that would be new."

This would indeed be a radical shift from the conventional views on Title IX. It might also stray from the original intent of the legislation, which was to ensure equal opportunities for men and women. Few, if any legislators envisioned Title IX as a backdoor for sexual harassment claims. The legal arguments in this case could get very interesting.

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