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Case Name
Department of Education OCR Title IX Investigation of Humboldt State University
ED-CA-0005
Docket / Court
09-17-2481 ( No Court )
State/Territory
California
Case Type(s)
Education
Special Collection
Title IX, Sexual Violence Investigations/Resolutions
Case Summary
In the spring of 2017, a student at Humboldt State University filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, San Francisco Office for Civil Rights (OCR). She alleged that the university discriminated against her on the basis of her sex because administrators did not respond to her ...
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In the spring of 2017, a student at Humboldt State University filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, San Francisco Office for Civil Rights (OCR). She alleged that the university discriminated against her on the basis of her sex because administrators did not respond to her complaint of sexual assault promptly or equitably. The university took over seven months to investigate her complaint, failed to offer her interim measures until five months after she made a complaint, failed to provide her with notice of the outcome of the investigation until a month after it was complete, and refused to effectively enforce the no contact order the school put in place to prevent harassment.
After several months of investigation, OCR announced on November 2, 2017 that it identified a number of areas in which Humboldt State failed to comply with Title IX. Although OCR concluded that the university’s provision of notice of the outcome of the investigation and interim measures were sufficiently prompt, it found that the university’s failure to enforce the no contact order and its delayed investigation were not sufficiently prompt and thus violated Title IX.
To resolve these concerns, OCR and Humboldt State entered into a resolution agreement where it agreed to make a number of changes to its policies and practices including:
Developing protocols to ensure effective communication between parties involved in Title IX proceedings;
Providing training to all staff involved in Title IX policies and the new protocols; and
Submitting to ongoing monitoring by OCR to ensure compliance with the agreement.
Because there has been no further activity on the docket, the case is presumed closed.
Hope Brinn - 01/09/2019
compress summary
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
Affected Gender
Female
Content of Injunction
Implement complaint/dispute resolution process
Monitoring
Reporting
Training
Defendant-type
College/University
Discrimination-basis
Sex discrimination
Plaintiff Type
Private Plaintiff
Special Case Type
Out-of-court
Causes of Action
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq.
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
Humboldt State University
Plaintiff Description
Complainant is an attorney representing a student who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a peer while attending Humboldt State University.
Class action status sought
No
Class action status granted
No
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Mixed
Public Int. Lawyer
Unknown
Nature of Relief
Declaratory Judgment
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief
Settlement
Filed
2017
Case Closing Year
2017
Case Ongoing
No reason to think so
Additional Resources
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Chronicle of Higher Education, Title IX Tracker: Humboldt State University
Chronicle of Higher Education
Date: Jan. 2, 2019
By: Chronicle of Higher Education
[ Detail ]
[ External Link ]
Office of Civil Rights, Title IX
Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights
Date: Dec. 23, 2018
By: Department of Education, Office of Student Rights
[ Detail ]
[ External Link ]
Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
N.D. Cal.
02/16/2011
4:07-cv-04299-PJH
ED-CA-0005-9000.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
not recorded
10/26/2017
Resolution Agreement
ED-CA-0005-0001.pdf
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Detail
not recorded
11/02/2017
[Findings Letter for Humboldt State University]
ED-CA-0005-0002.pdf
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Detail
People
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Judges
Hamilton, Phyllis Jean
(N.D. Cal.)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Affeldt, John T.
(California)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Cook, David B
(District of Columbia)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Kini, Tara Elizabeth
(California)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Pearlman, Jenny
(California)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Pelchat, Zachary
(District of Columbia)
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ED-CA-0005-0002
Perroton, Nicole Elise
(California)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Simes, Jeffrey A
(New York)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Stone, Elizabeth Frances
(California)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Thompson, Patrick S
(California)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Defendant's Lawyers
Hyde, Michael Quenten
(District of Columbia)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
Other Lawyers
Verrilli, Donald B. Jr.
(District of Columbia)
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ED-CA-0005-9000
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