The purpose of this study was to closely examine relevant case law to determine if a legal argument exists that holds school administrators legally responsible for protecting students from peer to peer sexual harassment, particularly under federal laws. A second purpose of this study was to determine if a theoretical and/or regulatory base is available to support the argument. The research questions for this study were: (1) Does an argument emerge from analysis of appropriate case law and legislation that finds peer to peer sexual harassment to be sex discrimination that school administrators may be held legally responsible for preventing? (2) In addition to case law and legislation, what support can be found in the language and reasoning of scholarly writings, regulatory documents and case law dissents to forecast expanded judicial reasoning to hold school administrators responsible for protecting students from peer to peer sexual harassment?

A traditional methodology of legal research was employed, using traditional legal finding tools and electronic data bases. An analysis of relevant court cases addressing sexual harassment was completed to establish and examine the judicial reasoning of the courts in those decisions.

The legal analyses conducted in this study showed that the cases of peer to peer sexual harassment heard in federal courts since 1989 have resulted in a pattern of decisions ruling increasingly in favor of administrators’ legal responsibility for preventing peer to peer sexual harassment and their liability for failure to do so. While cases heard under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 and the Due Process Clause were, with one exception, unsuccessful in assigning legal responsibility to school administrators, decisions in cases heard under Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 have increasingly placed legal responsibility and liability on administrators. Two recent Title [X cases heard in federal appellate courts resulted in opposing decisions, a situation which sets the stage for a possible Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

Regulations and procedures enforced through state judiciaries and federal regulatory agencies, such as the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education, support the argument that school administrators are legally responsible when they knew of sexual harassment between peers and failed to stop the behavior. Scholars have advocated application of Title VII principles to Title IX, equating administrators’ responsibility for protecting students from peer harassment to employer responsibility for preventing co-worker sexual harassment they knew or should have know about. And, finally, the dissents of two federal circuit court judges in cases decided in favor of defendant school districts have strongly favored holding administrators responsible for peer sexual harassment that they knew about and failed to stop.