LAWSUIT Alleges Bias Against Straight Male. Montana StateU TitleIX Director Steps Down
A former male student filed a federal lawsuit last year against Montana State University, Jyl Shaffer, and other MSU employees. Jyl Shaffer was MSU’s Title IX administrator and according to the lawsuit is accused of bias in favor of transgender students and against straight men. The former student, Erik Powell, sued MSU in March 2017. His lawsuit charges that the university violated his constitutional rights in 2016 by banning him from the Bozeman campus in the summer and fall semesters, after he privately voiced his objections to transgenderism to an instructor, comments he contended were misconstrued as threatening violence. The lawsuit charges MSU violated his rights to free speech, due process and equal protection, and that it discriminated against him because he is male, violating the federal Title IX law that bars discrimination in education based on sex. The lawsuit alleges after the transgender student filed a complaint with the Title IX Office, neither the MSU dean of students office nor campus police thought the male student’s comments were serious threats that warranted his suspension, but Title IX administrator Shaffer called the case “cut and dried” and had him kicked off campus. The lawsuit alleges Shaffer showed bias when she wrote an email to the transgender student calling herself “an aspiring ally” and saying, “I’m grateful you trusted us.” Shaffer offered to assist the transgender student to find work or academic help, and to meet with the ASMSU students’ attorney – but didn’t offer the same assistance to the male student. “Shaffer also has firmly held anti-male beliefs that she shared on her Twitter account,” the lawsuit alleges. It cites her 2018 comment calling “accurate AF (as expletive deleted)” an article that talked about “entitled toxic masculinity.” Shaffer recently left her Title IX administrator position, along with investigator James Sletten, a former MSU police officer working under Shaffer. The case is still ongoing in U.S. District Court, with Judge Sam Haddon presiding.
bozemandailychronicle.com By Gail Schontzler
