Office for Civil Rights
Title IX is enforced by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Inquiries about the application of Title IX can be made to OSU’s Title IX Coordinator, the US Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary, or both. For information on how to file a discrimination complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, see: How to File a Discrimination Complaint With the Office for Civil Rights. The following information is from that site:
Who can file a discrimination complaint?
Anyone who believes that an educational institution that receives federal financial assistance has discriminated against someone on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age, or who believes that a public elementary or secondary school or state or local education agency has violated the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, may file a complaint. How to File a Discrimination Complaint With the Office for Civil Rights
The person or organization filing the complaint need not be a victim of the alleged discrimination but may complain on behalf of another person or group.
Timeliness
A complaint must be filed within 180 calendar days of the date of the alleged discrimination unless the time for filing is extended by OCR for good cause shown under certain circumstances.
Institutional Grievance Procedures
Prior to filing a complaint with OCR against an institution, a potential complainant may want to find out about the institution’s grievance process and use that process to have the complaint resolved. However, a complainant is not required by law to use the institutional grievance process before filing a complaint with OCR. If a complainant uses an institutional grievance process and also chooses to file the complaint with OCR, the complaint must be filed with OCR within 60 days after completion of the institutional grievance process.
Complaints regarding Section 1557
For complaints regarding Section 1557, you can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, D.C. 20201, 800-868-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD). Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.
