The saga involving the 2024 Title IX Rule and its corresponding regulations (“regulations”) took a significant turn on January 9, 2025, when a federal judge issued an order that struck down the regulations on a nationwide basis. The decision, State of Tennessee, et. al., v. Cardona, found that the U.S. Department of Education unlawfully expanded the definition of sex under Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Citing the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which limits the regulatory power of federal agencies, the opinion asserts that the Biden administration overstepped its authority when it sought to enforce a new interpretation of the Title IX law through federal rulemaking. 

The federal district court decision also rejected the regulations on free-speech grounds, based on offending the First Amendment by potentially requiring school staff to use names and pronouns associated with a student's chosen gender identity. Further, the opinion dismissed the Education Department's position that Title VII’s protections for gay and transgender workers against workplace discrimination established in the Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County should also apply in schools under Title IX. 

Ultimately, the decision ordered the 2024 Title IX regulations to be vacated. In the words of the judge that authored the decision and issued the order, the vacatur takes the unlawful regulations “off the books” and prevents their application to all who would otherwise be subject to their operation. 

On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education acknowledged the recent court decision and announced – “Consistent with the court’s order, the 2024 Title IX regulations…are not effective in any jurisdiction.”  

As a result of the vacatur, all Michigan school districts revert back to following the 2020 Title IX regulations. This means that school policies will have to comply with the 2020 Title IX regulations and school staff must complete training to follow and implement the 2020 regulations as well. 

While this recent court decision vacated the 2024 Title IX regulations, it does not overrule state laws and previous court decisions that provide protections from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Thus, school districts are encouraged to contact and consult with their policy provider to ensure that they have the proper anti-discrimination policies in place to comply with Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, Title IX and binding judicial decisions that have upheld anti-discrimination protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation.  If you have questions, please reach out to our Legal Services Department..