officials . `` We hold that Section 1983 suits based on the Equal Protection Clause remain available to plaintiffs alleging unconstitutional gender discrimination in schools , '' Justice Samuel Alito wrote . The plaintiffs allege the incidents happened on a school bus in Barnstable , Massachusetts , in the 2000-01 academic year . The child had told her parents that whenever she wore a dress , a third-grader would make her do things she did not want to do . After the mother complained to school officials , the boy denied the allegations . The principal , after interviewing other students and the bus driver , concluded she could not corroborate the girl 's version of events . The principal suggested the girl be transferred to another bus as a possible solution . The Fitzgeralds said that amounted to punishing their daughter and said the boy was the one who should be transferred . The local police department also looked into the case but concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the boy . The parents began driving the girl to school and filed a lawsuit , claiming the schools system 's response was inadequate . School
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The Supreme Court has given a girl 's parents the go-ahead to sue a Massachusetts school district over alleged sexual harassment by another student . A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows a couple two avenues to pursue claims against their daughter 's school district . The justices , in a unanimous ruling , allowed the plaintiffs two avenues to make their claims -- a 1972 law banning gender bias in education and a separate civil rights law enacted 138 years ago . Lisa and Robert Fitzgerald said their then-kindergartner daughter was forced by an older male student to lift her skirt or pull down her underwear . The parents alleged school officials ignored their concerns and refused to discipline the boy . Federal courts had been split over whether the newer law -- known as Title IX -- displaced any claims made under part of the 1871 civil rights law , called `` Section 1983 . '' The Fitzgeralds lost their initial Title IX claims and an appeals court blocked them from pursuing the other legal strategy . The ruling from the justices now gives the Fitzgeralds the right to continue their lawsuit against school