Schools keep the materials they use to train investigators who handle accusations of Title IX sex assault and harassment under lock and key. Attorneys have been trying to get these materials for years, with limited success.
Now a judge has questioned training after materials were released to a male student at the University of Mississippi who was expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting a female student. Judge Jordan questioned the training that investigators received and how it influenced their decision against John Doe. John had quoted the training materials in his lawsuit, specifically, sections that advised a “lack of protest or resistance does not constitute consent, nor does silence”; that “victims … lie about anything that casts doubt on their account of the event,” including withholding facts and questioning their own victimhood; and suggests that such lies should be considered a side effect of an assault.
“Taken as a whole, the Court concludes that Doe has stated a plausible claim,” Jordan wrote in his 23-page opinion. “This is a he-said/she-said case, yet there seems to have been an assumption under [UMiss Title IX Coordinator Honey] Ussery’s training materials that an assault occurred. As a result, there is a question whether the panel was trained to ignore some of the alleged deficiencies in the investigation and official report the panel considered.” This, along with other distressing evidence, allowed Jordan to uphold John’s claims that he was discriminated against based on his gender.
dailywire.com By Ashe Schow
