The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a case exploring the scope of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Next term, the Supreme Court will determine whether employees of federally funded educational institutions have a private right of action for sex discrimination in the workplace. A ruling in the employees’ favor would give similarly situated employees an avenue of relief beyond what is already available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The outcome of this case is significant in that Title IX offers plaintiffs another cause of action and additional time to pursue it. Title IX and Title VII differ in various respects, including the following:
- Title IX provides a longer filing period for sex discrimination claims, applying the forum state’s statute of limitations for personal injury cases, which can vary from two to seven years. In contrast, Title VII requires the filing of a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 300 days, or 180 days in some states.
- Unlike Title VII claims, Title IX requires no administrative exhaustion before filing suit. While a plaintiff can file a Title IX claim directly in federal court, a plaintiff first must file a timely EEOC charge and obtain a right-to-sue letter, which then allows them to file suit within 90 days.
- While Title VII applies only to employers with 15 or more employees, Title IX contains no such limitation.
- Title IX has no statutory damages caps, whereas Title VII limits damages based on the number of employees that the employer had during the current or previous calendar year. Title VII also caps compensatory and punitive damages by the size of the employer. However, Title IX does not allow the recovery of punitive damages unless the defendant is a state or territorial government. Likewise, Title IX does not permit the recovery of damages for emotional distress, whereas Title VII does allow those damages.
Federal courts considering whether Title VII’s procedural requirements apply to Title IX discrimination claims are divided on the issue. Some courts have found that Title VII’s substantive law applies to Title IX discrimination claims, but not its procedural requirements, including filing, exhaustion, or state referral requirements. In contrast, other courts have ruled that Title VII’s procedural requirements preempt Title IX in the context of employment discrimination claims.
If the Supreme Court finds an implied private right of action under Title IX for employees, that right could include employees of all federally funded educational institutions. In that case, employment-based sex discrimination cases could involve both Title IX and Title VII concerns. On the other hand, the Supreme Court conceivably could limit the scope of potential Title IX claims to those employees whose work is involved with the institution’s educational activities. Finally, if the Supreme Court declines to expand Title IX to employees, Title VII will remain the primary cause of action for employee sex discrimination claims.
Regardless of the case’s outcome, the federal government still has the power to enforce Title IX and ensure that covered institutions follow the law. Furthermore, the Supreme Court already has held that employees at covered institutions have a private right of action for retaliation in connection with complaints about sex discrimination against students.
The scope of Title IX is already quite broad. The federal law applies to over 17,600 local school districts, over 5,000 postsecondary institutions, charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, museums, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and education agencies in all states, territories, and the District of Columbia.
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