Title IX

Grievance Process Definitions

• Incident
  • An allegation is made by the Complainant against a Respondent(s) which alleged a violation of our Equal Opportunity, Civil Rights, and Sexual Harassment policy, specifically, a claim of sexual harassment. Other civil rights allegations and allegations that do not meet the definition of sexual harassment under Title IX are addressed under a different procedure (G-113B - Unlawful Discrimination/Harassment/Sexual Harassment/Sexual Misconduct/Sexual Violence Complaints Grievance Procedure). All allegations that are dismissed under Title IX can be appealed if they meet certain requirements.
• Notice
  • All parties receive a notice of the allegations with sufficient details, including the name of the Complainant and an overview of the allegation(s). This notice informs the Respondent(s) that they are presumed innocent until the completion of the Grievance Procedure.
• Investigation and Report
  • A trained investigator or a team of two investigators will be assigned to investigate the allegations. Investigators are required to be free of bias and conflict of interest in how they conduct the investigation. The investigation includes interviews with witnesses, including those proffered by the parties, as well as those determined by the investigator(s). Evidence is also collected and may include social media posts, messages, and other forms of physical evidence. Upon completion of the investigation, a report is written. Each party reviewed the draft report and all evidence which is then incorporated into a final report.
• Hearing
  • A live hearing is conducted by an administrative law judge (ALJ) who is an employee of the Wisconsin Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA). During the hearing, the ALJ will ask questions of the parties and investigator(s) and the party’s advisors must conduct cross-examination of the other party and witnesses. The ALJ considers the relevance of all questions prior to them being asked and makes a ruling on the relevance of any evidence.
• Appeal
  • Any party can appeal a final outcome if it meets the requirement for an appeal and is filed timely. An appeal is not a rehearing of the case or a disagreement with an outcome, but involves specific technical issues in how the case was managed, investigated, or resolved.

Behavior Definitions

• Sex Discrimination
  • Sex discrimination is treating someone unfavorably because of that person's sex (“on the basis of sex)”. This includes excluding people from educational or employment programs or activities on the basis of sex. Sex, for the purposes of Northwood Tech’s policy, includes gender, gender identity, and transgender.
• Sexual Harassment
  • Sexual harassment means conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following: quid pro quo, the Davis standard that defines hostile environment sexual harassment, and sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.
  • Sex-based harassment is unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the recipient’s education program or activity.
  • Quid pro quo sexual harassment occurs when an employee of the recipient conditions the provision of aid, benefit, or service of the recipient on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct.
  • Sexual assault, defined as:
    • Sex Offenses, Forcible: Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the Complainant including instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent.
    • Forcible Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the Complainant.
    • Forcible Sodomy: Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will or not forcibly or against the person’s will (non-consensually) in instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
    • Sexual Assault With An Object: To use an object or instrument to penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will or not forcibly or against the person’s will (non-consensually) in instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
    • Forcible Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person (buttocks, groin, breasts) for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will (non-consensually) or not forcibly or against the person’s will in instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
  • Sex Offenses, Nonforcible: Nonforcible sexual intercourse.  
    • Incest: Nonforcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by Wisconsin law.
    • Statutory Rape: Nonforcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent of 18
• Dating Violence
  • Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the Complainant. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the Complainant’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. For the purposes of this definition
    • Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse.
    • Dating violence does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence.

• Domestic Violence

  • A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed:

    • By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the Complainant;

    • By a person with whom the Complainant shares a child in common;

    • By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the Complainant as a spouse or intimate partner;

    • By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the Complainant under the domestic or family violence laws Wisconsin;

    • By any other person against an adult or youth Complainant who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of Wisconsin

• Stalking
  • Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to either
    • Fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or
    • Suffer substantial emotional distress.
• Discrimination Against Pregnant Students
  • Taking adverse action against an individual or failing to accommodate a student or employee who has an accommodation in place due to their pregnancy status.
• Retaliation
  • No recipient or other person may intimidate, threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any individual for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX, or because the individual has made a report or complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or refused to participate in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under Title IX. Intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination, including charges against an individual for code of conduct violations that do not involve sex discrimination or sexual harassment, but arise out of the same facts or circumstances as a report or complaint of sex discrimination, or a report or formal complaint of sexual harassment, for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX or this part, constitutes retaliation. The exercise of rights protected under the First Amendment does not constitute retaliation.