Avoiding a 'train' wreck: new Title IX training requirements

As announced in our previous article titled "Updated Title IX regs to change the way colleges respond to sexual harassment allegations" (see the September 2020 issue of Midwest Employment Law Letter), the U.S. Department of Education recently updated its regulations to Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 for the first time in many years. The final regulations, which require covered institutions to significantly change the way they respond to sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, were subsequently challenged in court by attorneys general (AGs) from 17 states and the District of Columbia following their release. Recently, the D.C. federal court denied the AGs' request for a preliminary injunction, paving the way for the long-awaited final regulations to go into effect on August 14 as originally scheduled.

But wait, there's more. As colleges and universities scramble to implement or revise their sexual harassment policies and grievance procedures to comply with the updated Title IX final regulations, they should be mindful of additional action items likely to require their immediate attention: training and publishing their training materials.

New training requirements