MacKenzie Brown v. State of Arizona

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Mackenzie Brown was physically assaulted by her boyfriend, Orlando Bradford, while they were both undergraduates at the University. Bradford, a university football player, physically assaulted two other female

BROWN V. STATE OF ARIZONA 5

students—Student A and Lida DeGroote—before assaulting Brown. Brown sued the University, 1 alleging that it violated Title IX by failing to respond to reports of Bradford’s prior domestic abuse, giving Bradford an opportunity to abuse Brown. Because Brown’s Title IX claim is based on the University’s failure to respond appropriately to reports that Bradford physically abused Student A and DeGroote, those facts are outlined below.

1. Initial concerns arise about domestic violence against Student A.

Bradford started dating Student A, a university softball player, in fall 2015. Late one night in September 2015, students informed a dormitory Resident Assistant (RA) that they saw Student A and Bradford in a physical altercation in a study room. When confronted by the RA, Bradford said that he and Student A were just joking. The RA reported the incident to the on-call Community…