Harvard Law School Mishandled Sexual Harassment, Dept. of Education Finds
Harvard Law School took more than a year to resolve a sexual harassment complaint and did not allow the complainant to take part in the appeal process, according to an investigation by the Department of Education released Tuesday.
That case, during which the decision to dismiss the accused from the Law School was overturned in appeal, was uncovered as part of an investigation that found Harvard Law School violated Title IX in its handling of sexual assault allegations.
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found that Harvard Law School’s policies did not comply with Title IX’s federal requirements that schools provide a “prompt and equitable response’’ to sexual harassment complaints. Specifically, the investigation found two student complaints of sexual assault that were mishandled, including the one above.
The resolution of the investigation means that Harvard Law School will now adopt the “preponderance of the evidence’’ standard for determining guilt in sexual harassment cases. Previously, the Law School relied on the more stringent “clear and convincing’’ evidence standard.
Harvard University enacted a new sexual assault policy over the summer, which used the “preponderance’’ standard and created an office of professionals to handle and investigate sexual assault allegations.
“As the conversation about sexual assault at colleges and universities spread to campuses across the nation, Harvard recognized that, like many peer institutions around the country, we could and should do more,’’ Harvard said in a statement.
In October, 28 members of Harvard Law School faculty wrote an op-ed to The Boston Globe stating their “strong objections’’ to the new policies. Still, the Law School will abide by those rules as part of the agreement with the Department of Education.
The investigation into Harvard Law began in 2011 after a faculty member at New England School of Law* alerted the Department of Education to several policies that violated Title IX, The Boston Globe reported.
This agreement does not resolve a Title IX investigation into Harvard College, the undergraduate body of Harvard. That investigations is still ongoing.
In addition, a number of other Massachusetts universities remain under investigation by the Department of Education for potential Title IX violations, including UMass-Amherst, UMass-Dartmouth, Brandeis, Boston University, Berklee College, Hampshire College, and Emerson College.
*Correction: This article originally stated the person who alerted the Department of Education was a faculty member of Harvard Law School. In fact, that person was a faculty member at New England School of Law.
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