Legal
Colorado ACLU Cases

Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: Simpson v. University of Colorado at Boulder

Case Number: 06-1184, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals

ACLU Case Number: 2006-15

Description: While they were students at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the plaintiffs in this case were sexually assaulted by University football players and high school students the team was hoping to recruit. The lawsuit alleges that the University is liable because school officials allowed the football program to maintain a sexually hostile environment in which students were repeatedly harassed and assaulted. The district court granted summary judgment to the university, and the plaintiffs appealed. The ACLU Women’s Rights Project, joined by a number organizations including the ACLU of Colorado, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that the plaintiffs produced sufficient evidence to allow a jury to conclude that University officials were deliberately indifferent to a record of sexual harassment and therefore could be held liable under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which forbids discrimination against women in any educational program receiving federal financial assistance. In 2007, the Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded the case for trial.

Issues: Rights of Women

ACLU of Colorado Attorneys: Mark Silverstein

Published Decision: Simpson v. University of Colorado Boulder, 500 F.3d 1170 (10th Cir. 2007)

Additional co-counsel: Lenora M. Lapidus, Emily J. Martin, Dennis Parker, Catherine Kim

Links to Selected Documents:

• ACLU Amicus brief, filed August 24, 2006

• Simpson v. University of Colorado Boulder, 500 F.3d 1170 (10th Cir. 2007)

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