Title IX Dress Code Case Survives Motion to Dismiss

We often read about school dress code controversies, like students objecting to traditions that sort students by sex into different color graduation robes, or imposing a gender dress code on prom attire or yearbook photos. I've always thought that issues like these were ripe for Title IX challenge, since this is clearly treating students differently on the basis of sex in the absence of a statutory or regulatory exception. Litigation challenging these gendered dress codes, however, is rare. I think the reason is that is that high profile cases of public school dress codes are limited to special occasions (prom, senior pictures, cap and gown) that target students who are on the verge of graduation, and therefore no longer having standing or motivation to challenge the policy. Private schools are more likely to have gendered dress codes that govern students' day to day attire, but these schools are less likely to be subject to Title IX because many if not most private secondary schools don't receive federal education funding.

Recently, however, three students, via their parents, sued a charter school in North Carolina, challenging its policy that requires girls to wear skirts, jumpers and prohibits them from wearing shorts or pants. They argue that the policy "subjects them to archaic sex stereotypes about what constitutes appropriate behavior and conduct for girls, reinforcing the notion that girls, but not boys, must dress and behave modestly, that they are less physically active than boys and that they should behave and dress in a manner that is otherwise traditionally considered appropriately feminine." 

The plaintiffs claim that because the charter school is a statutory defined public school, its gender-based dress code violates the U.S. Constitution.  The school moved to dismiss this claim, arguing that the students knew about the dress code when they voluntarily enrolled at the charter school. However, the court pointed out, there is no doctrine of waiver when it comes to constitutional rights. The plaintiffs will thus be able to continue to press their argument that the dress code is rooted in generalizations and stereotypes and thus impermissible under the standard of heightened scrutiny articulated in U.S. v. Virginia. 

Additionally, the plaintiffs' Title IX claim survived the school's motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs properly alleged in their complaint that the school receives federal funding, that the policy discriminates by sex, and that the plaintiffs are harmed by the policy. In support of its motion to dismiss, the school argued that in 1982, the Department of Education repealed a Title IX regulatory provision that prohibited gendered dress codes. The school argued that the repeal constitutes evidence of the Department of Education's position that gendered dress codes are, therefore, permissible. However, while courts generally defer to agencies regulations that fill in gaps and details of broadly-worded statutes, this court understandably hesitated to defer to the school's argued inference that repealing the prohibition constituted permission for gendered dress codes. Title IX, notably, is a blanket ban on sex discrimination except where statutory and regulatory exceptions permit. Given the statute's structure, I don't think that a court is obligated to infer that the agency's repeal of an earlier provision about dress code is tantamount to creating an exception.

The court also noted that the USDA, a federal agency which also distributes federal funds to educational institutions in the form of a school lunch subsidies, also has Title IX regulations, which do in fact prohibit “discriminat[ing] against any person in the application of any rules of appearance.”  The court reasoned in its decision on the motion to dismiss that the case had not yet produced enough of a record for it to determine whether the USDA regulations were applicable and warranting judicial deference. The court appears willing to eventually decide how both the USDA and DoE regulations factor in to judicial interpretation of Title IX on the question of gendered dress codes, but it wasn't ready to do so early in the litigation. When the court eventually does so, however, the case could send a message to schools that this and other manners of gendered dress codes -- including the more commonly encountered policies governing prom, yearbook, and graduation ceremony -- are unlawful.

Decision: Peltier et al. v. Charter Day School, No. 7:16-CV-30-H, 2017 WL 1194460 (E.D.N.C. Mar. 30, 2017).