Tier I hearing procedures

The hearing officer has the authority to hear and make determinations on all allegations of prohibited conduct and may also hear and make determinations on any additional alleged school policy violations that have occurred in concert with the prohibited conduct.

Participants at the hearing will include the following:

• Hearing officer
• Administrative facilitator
• The investigator who conducted the investigation
• Parties
• Advisors to the parties
• Any called witnesses
• Title IX Coordinator
• Persons providing authorized accommodations or assistive services
• School legal counsel (in some cases)

At either party’s request, the school will provide a way for the entire hearing to be conducted with the parties in separate rooms. The parties will be able to see and hear each other in real time. Any party or witness may be allowed to participate in the hearing remotely.

The hearing officer will answer all questions of procedure. Anyone appearing at the hearing to provide information will respond to questions on their own behalf.

The hearing officer will allow witnesses who have relevant information to appear at a portion of the hearing in order to respond to specific questions from the hearing officer and the advisors and will then be excused.

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Joint hearings

In hearings involving more than one respondent or in which two or more complainants have accused the same respondent of substantially similar conduct, the default procedure will be to hear the allegations jointly.

However, the Title IX Coordinator may permit the investigation and hearings pertinent to each respondent to be conducted separately if there is a compelling reason to do so. In joint hearings, separate determinations of responsibility will be made for each respondent with respect to each alleged policy violation.

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Order of the hearing

Introductions and explanation of procedure: The hearing officer explains the procedures and introduces the participants. This phase of the hearing may include a final opportunity for challenge or recusal on the basis of a new or not previously reviewed bias or conflict of interest. The hearing officer will rule on any such challenge unless the hearing officer is the individual who is the subject of the challenge, in which case the Title IX Coordinator will review and decide the challenge.

Recording, witness logistics, party logistics, curation of documents, separation of the parties, and other administrative elements of the hearing process are managed by an administrative facilitator assigned by the Title IX Coordinator.

The administrative facilitator will attend to, among other things, logistics of rooms for various parties/witnesses as they wait; the flow of parties/witnesses in and out of the hearing space; ensuring recording and/or virtual conferencing technology is working as intended; copying and distributing materials to participants, as appropriate, etc.

Investigator presents the final investigation report: The investigator will summarize the final investigation report, including items that are contested and those that are not, and will be subject to questioning by the hearing officer and the parties (through their advisors). The investigator will be present during the entire hearing process.

Neither the parties, advisors,  nor the hearing officer may ask the investigator their opinion regarding credibility, recommended findings, or determinations.

Testimony and questioning: Once the investigator presents their report and is subjected to questions during the hearing, the parties and witnesses, if any, may provide relevant information in turn.

The testimony begins with the complainant, and then in the order determined by the hearing officer. The parties and witnesses will submit to questioning by the hearing officer and then by the parties through their advisors (“cross-examination”).

All questions are subject to a relevance determination by the hearing officer. The advisor, who will remain seated during questioning, will pose the proposed question orally, electronically, or in writing. Orally is the default, but the hearing officer may permit other means of submission upon request or as agreed to by the parties and the hearing officer. The proceeding will pause to allow the hearing officer to consider the question, and the hearing officer will then determine whether the question will be permitted, disallowed, or rephrased.

At the discretion of the hearing officer, the hearing officer may explore arguments regarding relevance with the advisors. The hearing officer will then state their decision on the question for the record and advise the party or witness to whom the question was directed, accordingly. The hearing officer will explain any decision to exclude a question as not relevant or to the request to reframe the question for relevance.

The hearing officer will limit or disallow questions that are deemed irrelevant, unduly repetitious, or abusive. The hearing officer has the final say on all questions and determinations of relevance, subject to any appeal. The hearing officer may consult with legal counsel on any questions of admissibility. The hearing officer may ask advisors to explain why a question is or is not relevant from their perspective. The hearing officer will not entertain further argument from the advisors on relevance once the hearing officer has ruled on a question.

If the parties raise an issue of bias or conflict of interest of an investigator or hearing officer at the hearing, the hearing officer may elect to address those issues, consult with legal counsel, and refer them to the Title IX Coordinator, or preserve them for appeal. If bias is not in issue at the hearing, the hearing officer will not permit irrelevant questions that probe for bias.

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Refusal to submit to cross-examination and inferences

When party or witness is not available for cross-examination: If a party or witness does not submit to cross-examination at the hearing due to absence or refusal to participate in cross-examination questioning, then the hearing officer will not rely on any prior statement made by that party or witness in order to reach a final determination. The hearing officer must disregard any prior statement. Evidence provided that is something other than a statement by the party or witness may be considered.

When the witness provides partial answers: If the party or witness attends the hearing and answers only some questions, statements related to the questions they refuse to answer will not be considered.

Statements are the subject of the complaint: If the statements of the party who is absent or refusing to submit to cross-examination or refusing to attend the hearing are the subject of the complaint itself (e.g., the case is about verbal harassment or a quid pro quo offer), then those statements are not precluded from admission.

Inferences cannot be made: The hearing officer will not draw any inference solely from a party’s or witness’s absence from the hearing or refusal to answer cross-examination or other questions.

Charges from violations of other school policies: If charges of policy violations other than sexual misconduct are considered at the same hearing, the hearing officer may:

• Consider all evidence deemed relevant.
• Rely on any relevant statement as long as the opportunity for cross-examination is afforded to all parties (through their advisors).
• Draw reasonable inferences from any decision by any party or witness not to participate or respond to questions.

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