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18 Drexel L. Rev. 1 (2025-2026)

handle is hein.journals/drexel18 and id is 1 raw text is: REVERSE SEXUAL HARASSMENT: MALE HARASSERS AS VICTIMS OF SEX DISCRIMINATION Deborah L. Brake* ABSTRACT Reverse discrimination has long been asserted by majority group members to resist the assertion of equal rights by less privileged groups. Recently, a new type of reverse discrimination claim has gained traction: sex discrimination lawsuits brought by men disci- plined for sexual harassment. This claim first appeared in Title IX, with lawsuits brought by male students facing disciplinary action by colleges and universities for sexual harassment. Initially, courts easily dismissed these claims for lack of discriminatory intent against men. In the past decade, however, this claim-referred to here as reverse sexual harassment-has met with increasing success. More recently, reverse sexual harassment has begun to migrate into employment law in cases brought by male employees suing their employers for sex dis- crimination after facing discipline for sexual harassment. A perfect storm of factors made universities an attractive initial target for re- verse sexual harassment claims, but the logic of the claim is not limited to the university setting. This Article is the first to comprehensively examine reverse sexual harassment and the cultural and legal landscape in which it has taken root. Research for this Article identified 98 cases, producing 139 re- ported decisions, in which male plaintiffs alleged anti-male bias in their universities' handling of sexual harassment allegations against them. In the past decade, these claims have gone from near sure losers * Professor of Law and John E. Murray Faculty Scholar, University of Pittsburgh School of Law. I am deeply grateful to Lauren Krock (Univ. of Pittsburgh School of Law, J.D., 2025) for outstanding research assistance and to Brian Crowley (Columbia Univ., M.B.A., expected 2027) for assistance with graphs. Many thanks to Martha Chamallas, Jules Lobel, Stephanie Bornstein, Jessie Allen, Nancy Chi Cantalupo, Kathy Abrams, and Ann Juliano for helpful comments on earlier drafts. This Article benefited from presentation and discussion at the 2025 West Coast Gender and Sexuality Conference and at the Villanova Law School faculty workshop series. 1