it was Jane who made the sexual advances and was hurt and upset that he had rejected them.

Jane filed a sexual misconduct complaint with the university, and in June 2017, a Title IX hearing panel found John responsible and suspended him from the university. Since there were no witnesses, this case turns—as so many such cases do—on the credibility of the two parties.

But according to John's complaint, university administrators denied him the ability to effectively challenge Jane's credibility, refusing to ask many of the questions he submitted for cross-examination (Like many schools, Penn State's process for cross-examination in sexual misconduct cases involves submitting proposed questions to be asked by the hearing panel).

John was not able to ask why Jane had never provided the university with the medical reportshe received when she had gone for a medical examination in the days following the incident—a detail that Jane only revealed to the university's investigator months into the investigation. Given Jane's claim of physical injury from her encounter with John, that report was highly relevant. The hearing panel, however, refused to ask Jane any questions about it, labeling it "new information" and "irrelevant."

Brann disagreed. Noting "the importance of cross-examination when the outcome of a disciplinary hearing is ultimately dependent on credibility-based determinations," Brann ruled that "Penn State's failure to ask the questions submitted by Doe may contribute to a violation of Doe's right to due process as a 'significant and unfair deviation' from its procedures."

Brann also criticized the university for failing to provide the hearing panel with the