From Judge Frank Easterbrook's opinion Friday in Doe v. Loyola Univ. Chicago, joined by Judges Ilana Rovner and Amy St. Eve, following up on an opinion from a week before in Doe v. Indiana Univ.:
Loyola University Chicago expelled John Doe after concluding that he had engaged in sexual activity with Jane Roe, a fellow student, without her properly obtained consent. Contending that the University discriminates against men, Doe sued under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681–88, plus Illinois contract law….
[1.] [A]lthough anonymity may be common in Title IX suits, it must be justified in each case. "Title IX [does not create an] easement across the norm of using litigants' names." Doe v. Indiana University (7th Cir. 2024). Complaints normally must name all parties. Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a). Exceptions such as the use of initials for minors, Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2(a)(3), may apply to some first-year college students, but Doe was an adult when he filed this suit. "[J]udicial proceedings, civil as well as criminal, are to be conducted in public." "Identifying the parties to the proceeding is an important dimension of publicness. The people have a right to know who is using their courts." "Secrecy makes it difficult for the public (including the bar) to understand the grounds and motivations of a decision, why the case was brought (and fought), and what exactly was at stake in it." … [O]nly "exceptional circumstances" justify the use of a fictitious name for an adult ….
Educational institutions that receive federal funds must not disclose students' records except under specified circumstances. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b). But this statute does not apply to plaintiff, who is not an educational institution and may disclose his own records. More: a federal regulation, 34 C.F.R. § 99.31(a)(9)(iii)(B), authorizes educational institutions to disclose student records in the course of litigation once a student sues the educational institution.
