Late last week the Connecticut State Department of Education (“CSDE” or “Department”) issued new guidance addressing the rights of transgender students in Connecticut schools. Entitled Guidance on Civil Rights Protections...more
As schools prepare for the upcoming academic year, you should consider the impact of Florida’s new law addressing locker room and bathroom use. The Safety in Private Spaces Act was recently signed into law by Governor...more
A Florida public school’s transgender bathroom ban was recently upheld by a federal appeals court, leading to a circuit split that may need to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Specifically, in a 7-4 ruling, the 11th...more
Adams v. School Board of St. John’s County, 3:17-cv-00739, 2022 WL 18003879 (11th Cir. 2022) Adams, a transgender boy, sued the board of his Florida school district (“the School Board”) after his high school prohibited...more
In recent years, the legal rights of transgender students have been litigated in courts around the country. While court decisions have provided some guidance for school districts, many questions remain. This article addresses...more
On June 22, 2021, the United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (“DOJ) issued a joint Fact Sheet addressed to elementary and secondary...more
School’s Policy Prohibiting the Presence of a Transgender Student in the Restroom That Matches Their Gender Identity May Be Unlawful Discrimination....more
We have been speculating for quite some time now about what the U.S. Supreme Court will do with Title IX after its decision last term in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia. The landmark Bostock decision held that Title VII of...more
On Dec. 23, 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed bill A.5240A/S.6479 into law requiring school districts, BOCES, charter schools and nonpublic schools to designate all single-occupancy restrooms as gender neutral. The new law...more
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a decision allowing transgender high school students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identities. The High Court’s rebuff means the lower...more
In a major win for transgender rights, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor a transgender teenager who wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at his former school, finding that the school district violated his...more
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on October 8 in three closely watched cases addressing whether Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination “because of … sex,” covers discrimination based on LGBT...more
Franczek P.C. is pleased to announce the publication of its annual Legislative Update for schools. With the flood of legislative changes in Illinois this year, it is more imperative than ever for education stakeholders to...more
In a recent decision, the Illinois Human Rights Commission (IHRC) ruled that Illinois schools cannot limit transgender students’ unfettered access to the locker rooms that correspond to their gender identities. The decision...more
A federal court in Jacksonville, Florida recently ruled in favor a transgender teenager who wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school. The July 2018 decision marked the first time that a Florida court has ruled on...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently revealed the agency's proposal to narrow the legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans discrimination based on sex in...more
In a worst-case scenario, the mother of a kindergarten student in the Decatur, Georgia Public Schools has claimed that a “gender fluid” student sexually assaulted her daughter while using the girls bathroom at the students’...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has issued its much anticipated precedential opinion upholding denial of a preliminary injunction against a Pennsylvania school district's policy allowing transgender high...more
The protracted case of Gavin Grimm is set to be heard once again by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. ...more
Within the last couple of weeks, two decisions were issued that relate to transgender students’ use of facilities in public schools. In Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court and the...more
In a highly anticipated decision, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has rejected a school board’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a transgender former student over the school...more
With the recent buzz about President Donald Trump’s removal of federal protections for transgender students that were implemented under the Obama Administration, the states and school systems have been left to determine if...more
A law was born. On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed into law Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be...more
On February 22, 2017, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice issued a letter withdrawing the statements of policy and guidance reflected in the May 13, 2016 Dear Colleague Letter on OCR's enforcement of Title IX with...more
On May 30, 2017, on the heels of the Seventh Circuit’s ground-breaking en banc decision in Hively v. Ivy Tech. College holding that sexual orientation is a protected trait under Title VII, a unanimous three-judge panel of...more