On January 9, 2025, a Kentucky District Court found that the 2024 rules exceed the authority of the Department of Education under Title IX, violate the Constitution, and are the result of arbitrary and capricious agency action. This conclusion was not a surprise; the court signaled that such a conclusion was likely when it issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily paused the implementation of the new rules this summer. What is a bit unexpected is that rather than issuing a permanent injunction, which would have prevented the 2024 rules from taking effect in the states before the court (Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia), the court vacated the new rules. The effect is to undo the 2024 Title IX Rules entirely, meaning a return to the 2020 Rules across the country.  

Why did the court find the 2024 Rules problematic? 

First, the court found that Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination on the basis of sex prohibits treating a person worse than a similarly situated person based on their biological sex. The court rejected the Department’s reliance on Bostock to define discrimination based on sex to include discrimination based on gender identity, finding that such an interpretation “turns Title IX on its head.”  

Second, the court determined that the definition of sex discrimination and sex-based harassment, as well as the de minimus harm standard in the 2024 Rules, offend the First Amendment by requiring recipients, including teachers, to use names and pronouns associated with a student’s gender identity. Further, the court ruled that the expanded hostile environment definition is vague and overbroad and violates the spending clause by expanding Title IX to cover new subject matter not contemplated by the statute itself.  

Finally, the court said that the Department failed to provide a reasoned explanation for departing from its longstanding interpretation of Title IX.  

What does this mean for states already implementing the 2024 Rules? 

Hopefully, you didn’t throw away your 2020 policy and procedures! While the court contends that vacating the 2024 Rule will “simply cause a return to the status quo that existed for more than 50 years prior to its effective date,” that is certainly not the case for states that overhauled their policies and grievance procedures in both 2020 and 2024 and will have to make a change yet again.  

Schools that transitioned to the 2024 Rules need to dust off their 2020 policy, procedures, and training to use moving forward. As we do not expect the new administration to appeal this decision, the 2020 Rules will likely continue in effect. A refresher training on the 2020 Rules (or full training for new staff) will benefit your Title IX team.  

What does this mean for states that were under an injunction? 

For those schools with an injunction, after all this uncertainty, conflict, and preparation, your policy and procedures will continue as they have since August 2020. While other courts are also considering the validity of the 2024 Rules, those courts are unlikely to reach a different conclusion on the merits. And the new administration may move to dismiss these cases as moot now that the Kentucky court has vacated the 2024 Rule.   

If you put off training this fall because you were waiting to see if you would need to learn about the 2020 or 2024 Rules, we have a pretty clear answer now. For team members familiar with the 2020 Rules, renewed training is valuable for maintaining and enhancing skills. And for staff members who are new to the team, training is a must.   

What now? 

Join us Monday for a special edition of TacTIX: 

The Big Call: What Vacating the 2024 Title IX Rules Means for Your School  

January 13, 2025

1:00 Central 

thlaw.com/TIXShowcase