Filed Under: Jurisdiction
If there is a university sponsored event that is outside of the U.S. and an incident occurs, would this incident be covered by Title IX?
The Department continues to maintain that Title IX does not have extraterritorial application and does not apply to conduct that occurs outside of the United States. Title IX states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 20 U.S.C. 1681(a). The plain language of the statute therefore makes clear that Congress did not intend for Title IX to apply extraterritorially given the language limiting its application to the United States. 89 FR 33531. Although Title IX does not apply to conduct that occurs outside the United States, a recipient does have a responsibility to address a sex-based hostile environment in its education program or activity in the United States, even when some conduct alleged to be contributing to the hostile environment occurred outside of the United States, including in a study abroad program. 89 FR 33532.