U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Individuals Cannot Sue Colleges Under Privacy Law

By PETER SCHMIDT

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that individuals cannot sue colleges for violating a federal law that protects the privacy of student records.

In a 7-to-2 decision involving a lawsuit against Gonzaga University, the justices held that the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act does not give individual students and parents the right to sue education institutions that violate the law's provisions by divulging confidential student information.

Writing for the court's

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Past Coverage

Supreme Court Will Weigh Whether Private Colleges Can Be Sued Over Privacy Law - January 25, 2002
Appeals Court, Allowing Warrantless Search, Clarifies Online-Privacy Rights - April 20, 2007
College Sports Programs Use Privacy Law to Hide Their Inner Workings, Newspaper Says - May 31, 2009
Privacy Law Does Not Preclude Use of Student Graders, Supreme Court Rules - March 1, 2002
Education Dept. Proposes Guidelines for Changes in Law on Student Privacy - June 11, 1999

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