Third Circuit Finds that Deliberate Indifference to Third-Party Conduct May Lead to Title IX Liability

Originally posted to our Title IX Insights Blog.

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed that Title IX provides adequate notice to federal funding recipients of their responsibility to respond to known sexual harassment if they have control over the context and harasser, even when the harasser is a third party.  

The Court of Appeals ruled that Millersville University, a public institution in Pennsylvania, could be liable for deliberate indifference to known sexual harassment by a non-student guest. The case arose from the murder of a female student in her dorm room by her non-student boyfriend. The non-student’s months-long pattern of abusive behavior leading up to the murder was well-known and reported to individuals on campus who had some authority to take corrective action, including a campus police officer who failed to file an incident report involving the non-student until after the student’s murder. While the Deputy and Area Title IX Coordinators received actual notice, they did not forward any of the reports to the Title IX Coordinator as required by their policy.  

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