I’M ON THE NCLA BOARD, BTW: NCLA Wins Appeal: Second Cir. Rejects Cornell’s Effort to Strip Due Process Rights from Faculty in Title IX Hearing.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today vacated the dismissal of the Title IX and defamation claims in Dr. Mukund Vengalattore v. Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Education. It held that university discrimination against faculty on the basis of sex is subject to suit under Title IX. The majority and concurring opinions expressed shock at the lack of due process and general treatment of Dr. Mukund Vengalattore by Cornell University. Judge José Cabranes, in his concurrence, noted that Cornell’s actions (if proved at trial) represent “deeply troubling aspects of contemporary university procedures to adjudicate complaints under Title IX” and “signal a retreat from the foundational principle of due process.” . . .

Judge Amalya Kearse, writing for the majority, described Cornell’s procedures in dealing with the allegations as “fundamentally skewed.” Judge Kearse noted that “The accuracy of the investigators’ recommended finding that Vengalattore had a sexual relationship with [Jane] Roe … is plausibly called into question not only in light of the investigators’ rejection of Vengalattore’s requests to pursue evidence that could have supported his denial of a sexual relationship with Roe, but also in light of rationales proffered by the investigators for certain conclusions.”

Cornell’s investigators dismissed all exculpatory witnesses as irrelevant to the investigation or outright refused to listen to them. The investigators also ignored inconsistencies in Roe’s statements and refused to tell Dr. Vengalattore what charges he was facing yet required him to prove his innocence. Cornell denied Dr. Vengalattore a hearing, denied him the right to cross-examine witnesses, and denied him the right to present his own live witnesses. Notably, Judge Cabranes, in the concurrence, stated, “insulated from review, it is no wonder that, in some cases, these procedures have been compared unfavorably to those of the infamous English Star Chamber.”

With good reason.