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UVU asks judge to throw out suit from former Title IX director
By Annie Knox
Utah Valley University has asked a judge to toss a whistleblower lawsuit from its former Title IX director. Attorneys for the school argue in Tuesday court filings that Melissa Frost could not have been fired for alleging potential violations of federal antidiscrimination law, because administrators didn't know she was gathering information about them at the time. The university also claims that Utah law protecting whistleblowers doesn't apply to Frost because the actions she took against her employer fell under the scope of her job responsibilities. As a Title IX coordinator, she was charged with investigating sexual assault and harassment, and making sure the university complies with federal law against gender discrimination. Frost, who was hired to head UVU's new Title IX office in 2014 and fired in June 2017, sued the school in 3rd District Court in May. She alleged school officials were slow to refer students the Title IX office and that a sexual assault case involving athletes dragged on for more than a year. In addition, she claimed campus police took gay male students' sexual assault complaints less seriously and said administrators were reluctant to hold trainings to make clear that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected from discrimination. A week after her firing, Frost filed a complaint against the university with the U.S. Department Education's Office for Civil Rights, alleging Title IX violations and retaliation for her voicing her concerns about compliance. A federal civil rights probe is pending. Her suit seeks reinstatement at UVU, plus payment for lost wages, benefits and seniority rights, and other damages if she is not reinstated. UVU has said it is a safe, welcoming and supportive environment for everyone, in part because of its commitment to Title IX. The school said Wednesday in the statement that the facts would prevail. A school spokesman in a Wednesday statement reiterated that the university had hired an outside investigator who reviewed Frost's claim of retaliation and found it was unsubstantiated. Frost gave the investigator a summary of her concerns and told the school's attorney she was about to start an investigation into allegations by three women against white men in upper management, according to the suit. Attorneys for UVU included in the Tuesday court filings an April 2017 memo that recommended Frost be removed from her director role and made an investigator, saying she used "coercive tactics to force students who are victims to participate in what is supposed to be a voluntary process" of reporting Title IX violations. Another memo dated June 2017 gave her notice of the school's intent to terminate her and said complaints against her "intensified" over several months. It added Frost gave "a perception that you are more focused on 'documenting noncompliance' and building a case to protect yourself than on resolving investigations in a timely manner." Frost, in a handwritten note on the document, wrote that she disagreed, hadn't been informed of many of the issues, and that the termination was direct retaliation. The school earlier this month filed a counterclaim alleging misconduct on Frost's part for allegedly withholding documents from UVU. It sought attorney fees and other damages, and asked the court to order Frost to give back confidential materials and bar her from releasing them to others.
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