EdCounsel Insights
This podcast features host Duane Martin and other members of the EdCounsel team, who provide the latest updates on legal issues facing Missouri public schools. In each episode, the host will take a current legal topic and provide practical insights into how to manage the legal risks and compliance issues related to that topic. In January 2014, four school attorneys left the school law practice at former firms to found a completely different type of law firm – one whose sole purpose is to serve Missouri public school districts. EdCounsel is now a team of 12 attorneys who are dedicated to public schools and public school leaders.
EdCounsel Insights
Episode 57: The General Assembly’s Oversight: Sex Segregated Restrooms in Missouri Public Schools
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EdCounsel, LLC
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Episode 57
Some former and current legislators argue that school districts should pass policies requiring sex segregated school restrooms. The Missouri Human Rights Act prohibits segregation in public accommodations, including restrooms, on the basis of sex. This prohibition is broad enough to allow for claims that males cannot be excluded from female restrooms and vice versa. As long as this language is on the books, and as long as the law is otherwise unsettled as to whether schools can have sex segregated restrooms, districts should avoid adopting policies that may lead to increased legal risks.