LAWSUIT: Accused High School Male Says Virginia School Violated Due Process Rights
A Northern Virginia high school student is suing the state’s largest school system, arguing that he faced discrimination after a female student accused him of sexual harassment. The case is the third in the past year calling into question the school system’s handling of sexual harassment allegations. This latest lawsuit says male students are treated “disproportionately harsher” when facing sexual misconduct accusations than female students in Fairfax public schools. The 18-year-old identified as John Doe claims Fairfax County Public Schools inadequately investigated accusations leveled against him by a female at Robinson Secondary School. The male student, who has a 3.2 grade-point average and was on the school’s wrestling team, was transferred to an alternative school and was placed on probationary status. The student is asking a federal judge to clear his record, which the student said could jeopardize his college wrestling scholarship and admission to a “prestigious” university.
“If a male student and female student are both engaged in mutual sexual contact or touching on school grounds, it is common for the male student to be punished and for the female student not to be punished, based on gender,” the lawsuit says. Jesse Binnall an attorney representing the student said the 187,830-student school system does not have appropriate measures to address sexual harassment allegations.
fredericksburg.com By Debbie Truong
