The parents of children who were allegedly sexually molested by an older student face daunting challenges in their lawsuit against the Allentown School District, Professor聽David S. Cohen said in a Morning Call published April 28.
The suit alleges that school officials engaged in sex discrimination by failing to aggressively investigate the alleged attacker鈥檚 prior molestations.
Cohen said that under Title IX, the federal law against sex-based discrimination in schools, the plaintiffs may have difficulty proving their case.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that you knew about something and didn鈥檛 do a good enough job in responding to it,鈥 Cohen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that you intentionally ignored it, and that鈥檚 hard to show.鈥
An expert on sexual harassment and discrimination law, Cohen has published articles聽in the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, George Washington Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Boston University Law Review, South Carolina Law Review and the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law.