Doe v. Regents of the University of California, No. 20-55831 (9th Cir. 2022)
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Doe, a Chinese national graduate student, alleged that UCLA violated Title IX, 20 U.S.C. 1681(a), when it discriminated against him on the basis of sex in the course of a Title IX disciplinary proceeding instituted after a former student accused him of misconduct. Doe was just months away from completing his Ph.D. in chemistry/biochemistry when he was suspended for two years after a finding that he violated the University’s dating violence policy by placing Jane Roe “in fear of bodily injury.” Doe lost his housing, his job as a teaching assistant, and his student visa.
The Ninth Circuit vacated the dismissal of Doe’s suit. Doe stated a Title IX claim because the facts he alleged, if true, raised a plausible inference that the university discriminated against him on the basis of sex. Doe’s allegations of external pressures impacting how the university handled sexual misconduct complaints, an internal pattern and practice of bias in the University of California and at UCLA in particular, and specific instances of bias in Doe’s particular disciplinary case, when combined, raised a plausible inference of discrimination on the basis of sex sufficient to withstand dismissal. At "some point an accumulation of procedural irregularities all disfavoring a male respondent begins to look like a biased proceeding."
Court Description: Title IX. The panel reversed and vacated the district court’s order and judgment dismissing a Title IX action brought by John Doe, a Chinese national graduate student, and remanded for further proceedings. Doe alleged that the University of California, Los Angeles, violated Title IX when it discriminated against him on the basis of sex in the course of a Title IX disciplinary proceeding instituted after a former student accused him of misconduct. Following Schwake v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents, 967 F.3d 940 (9th Cir. 2020), the panel held that Doe stated a Title IX claim because the facts alleged in his first amended complaint, if true, raised a plausible inference that the university discriminated against him on the basis of sex. The panel concluded that Doe’s allegations of external pressures impacting how the university handled sexual misconduct complaints, an internal pattern and practice of bias in the University of California and at UCLA in particular, and specific instances of bias in Doe’s particular disciplinary case, when combined, raised a plausible inference of discrimination on the basis of sex sufficient to withstand dismissal. DOE V. REGENTS OF THE UNIV. OF CAL. 3
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