Cannon v. University of Chicago

At issue in Cannon v. University of Chicago was whether a private right of action existed under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in a suit where a woman claimed that she was denied admission to a medical school on the basis of her sex. The 1979 case of Cannon is important, because in ruling for the woman, the Court firmly established the methodology for evaluating whether a private right of action exists in a remedial federal statute such as Title IX.

The petitioner in Cannon was a woman who unsuccessfully filed suit alleging that she was discriminated against on the basis of sex, in violation of Title IX, when she was denied admission to two medical schools. After a federal trial court in ...