298
Stevens, J., dissenting
Franklin,6 has been alleged in this case.7 During her freshman and sophomore years of high school, petitioner Alida Star Gebser was repeatedly subjected to sexual abuse by her teacher, Frank Waldrop, whom she had met in the eighth grade when she joined his high school book discussion group. Waldrop's conduct was surely intentional, and it occurred during, and as a part of, a curriculum activity in which he wielded authority over Gebser that had been delegated to him by respondent. Moreover, it is undisputed that the activity was subsidized, in part, with federal moneys.
The Court nevertheless holds that the law does not provide a damages remedy for the Title IX violation alleged in this case because no official of the school district with "authority to institute corrective measures on the district's behalf" had actual notice of Waldrop's misconduct. Ante, at 277. That holding is at odds with settled principles of
6 As the Court notes, the student in Franklin—unlike the student in this case—alleged that school administrators knew about the harassment but failed to act. See ante, at 281; Franklin v. Gwinnett County Schools, 503 U. S., at 64. The Franklin opinion does not suggest, however, that that allegation was relevant to its holding that the school district could be liable in damages for an intentional violation of Title IX as a result of teacher-student harassment.
7 Cf. Brief for Respondent 9 ("It is important to bear in mind that the question in this case is not whether school districts are somehow 'responsible' for violations of Title IX and for failure to comply with administrative procedures. The issue is in what circumstances a school district may be compelled to answer in damages for a violation of Title IX or its implementing regulations"); id., at 13 ("In sum, the manner in which Title IX is phrased simply determines that a violation of the statute may occur whenever a person is discriminated against on the basis of sex, regardless of the school district's knowledge of the discrimination. But nothing in the language of the statute indicates that a school district must respond in damages for every such violation, regardless of its own knowledge or culpability"). But see id., at 19 ("[T]here is no evidence that Lago Vista committed an intentional violation of Title IX").
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