Lawyer for Former Baylor Title IX Coordinator Says Federal Probe is Significant Step

Originally published by Androvett Legal Media Blog.

The announcement Wednesday of a federal investigation of Baylor University after a complaint filed by Patty Crawford, its former Title IX coordinator, makes it clear that her allegations have merit, her attorney says.

Ms. Crawford resigned her post earlier this month, saying university leaders undermined her efforts to investigate sexual assaults on a campus scandalized by years of rape allegations against football players. The coach and athletic director were fired, and the president was removed.

Ms. Crawford’s lawyer, Rogge Dunn of Clouse Dunn in Dallas, says she filed her complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights Sept. 26. She resigned her position the following week and told CBS in an interview that she did so because the harder she worked to enforce Title IX, the more resistance she faced from Baylor. Ms. Crawford says when she brought her concerns to the school and made it clear the university was violating Title IX, her working environment became worse.

“Patty tried to work within the Baylor system and told her boss about her concerns,” Mr. Dunn says. “When that didn’t work, in July 2016 she sent a lengthy written memo to her boss detailing Baylor’s failure to comply with Title IX regulations. After she sent the memo, Baylor’s retaliation against her increased. She then filed her complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.”

“Last week, Patty was interviewed by the federal Investigator. It is significant that a formal investigation was opened, which indicates that the Office of Civil Rights found Patty’s claims credible and that her Title IX complaint warranted further investigation.

“In all the other cases involving people in the know or on the inside – former Baylor University President Ken Starr, former athletic director Ian McCaw, former head football coach Art Briles – Baylor has bought the participants’ silence. Patty is the first person to reject Baylor’s confidentiality agreement and step forward to expose what happened.”

For more information or to set up an interview, contact Sophia Reza at 800-559-4534 or sophia@androvett.com.

 

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