Maine’s primary governing body for high school athletics claims it isn’t liable for Title IX violations since it receives no federal funding, but Title IX legal experts call that argument “weak.”
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined earlier this week that the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) and Greely High School in Cumberland violated Title IX by continuing to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. However, in a formal response to HHS’ finding, the MPA asserted that it could not be investigated for violating Title IX because it does not receive federal funds, either “directly” or “indirectly.”
“This is an incredibly weak argument by the Maine Principals’ Association. It is no different than any one of the pass through funding options we’ve seen with Title IX in the past,” said Sarah Perry, a senior legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation who has experience litigating Title IX issues. Perry pointed to the NCAA as an example, noting that courts have found it liable under Title IX because it manages billions in sports revenue in its role overseeing schools that receive direct federal funding.
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“The NCAA is a secondary recipient of federal funding because all of its member organization schools are themselves recipients of federal funding and that is precisely the basis for which Riley Gaines and a number of other NCAA swimmers sued the NCAA for violation of Title IX,” Perry pointed out.
Kristen Waggoner is president and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative, Christian legal advocacy group and nonprofit. She also has experience litigating Title IX issues and called the MPA’s argument “weak.”
“Courts have consistently held that sports associations must comply with Title IX, even if they don’t directly pocket federal dollars. In fact, if an association has…
