On January 17, 2018, the Department of Education published a searchable database containing all active civil rights investigations in the US and the list will be updated monthly. The list will track by state the institution, the institution type, the type of discrimination listed in the complaint and the date the investigation first opened.

The searchable database will allow users to search investigations by subcategories, including:

  • Race and national origin discrimination,
  • Sex discrimination,
  • Disability discrimination and
  • Age discrimination.

Users can also search in additional detail under the type of discrimination, such as admissions,

  • Denial of benefits,
  • Retaliation,
  • Racial harassment
  • Religion.

Currently, according to the new database, there are 1,754 complaints for race and national origin discrimination, 2,155 records for sex discrimination, 4,675 complaints for disability discrimination, and 146 complaints for age discrimination (https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/university/dept-ed-civil-rights-database/).

While these numbers seem alarming, the inclusion of an school does not mean that school violated any federal anti-discrimination statute. A disclaimer in the new database explains, “Rather, it means that a complaint was filed with OCR and the agency determined the complaint should be opened for investigation, or the agency has opened a compliance review. OCR is still investigating the cases included on this list, or is otherwise working to resolve the cases… Some cases are resolved with a finding that there is insufficient evidence an institution violated a statute enforced by OCR.”

To see for yourself, you can click here: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/open-investigations/boyscouts.html.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex for schools and other federally funded programs, including sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Under Title IX, “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.”

Discrimination and sexual harassment do not only occur on campus, but it can also happen anywhere, including the workplace.

If you feel like you need help or a way out contact the experienced New York City discrimination and sexual harassment attorneys at the Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC. Our attorneys have years of experience litigating claims of discrimination, in both college campuses and workplace. Working together with our Philadelphia sexual harassment attorneys, we have recovered millions on behalf of our clients who were discriminated against because of their gender. If you feel you have been discriminated against because of your gender, please give our attorneys a call at (800) 807-2209 for a free consultation.