USA Today: ‘Gag order’ against assault: Schools bully young accusers into waiving rights, lawyers say

June 2. 2022

A USA Today article published today highlights a letter we sent to the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, written in partnership with civil rights attorney Laura Dunn, about how it is unlawful for schools to force student survivors of sexual violence to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) before entering the Title IX process, a growing trend used to silence survivors.

The article also features quotes from ERA Staff Attorney Kel O’Hara:

“You can go forward, but you don’t have any sort of meaningful opportunity to review and respond to the other side’s case. So if there was information in there that was misleading or inaccurate or otherwise harmful in those ways,” the student wouldn’t have the chance to prepare for it before the hearing, O’Hara said.

Read the article.