Rachel Lutner is the Vice President, Equity, at Case Western Reserve University. Rachel joined CWRU in June 2021. Prior to joining CWRU, from 2017-2021, she served at the Director of the Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX Coordinator at Cleveland State University, and also, at various times, as the Interim Director of the Office for Disability Services and the Office for Student Conduct and Advocacy.
Before moving to Ohio, Rachel was a partner in an education-focused law firm where she spent 13 years advocating for public K-12 school districts and colleges in areas of Title IX and Title VII, labor, sexual misconduct, compliance and litigation. Rachel conducted numerous investigations of Title IX, sexual misconduct, child sexual abuse, grooming and code of conduct violations, and identified strategies to achieve client-desired outcomes.
Prior to that, Rachel represented Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 corporations in labor and employment matters before state and federal agencies and courts across the United States. Rachel earned a BA from Carleton College and her JD from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. Rachel lives outside of Cleveland with her husband, pitt-brown lab mix and cat, where they are joined periodically for varying amounts of time by their wonderful on-the-way-to-becoming adult kids (F18, M19 and M23).
Lutner leads the Office of Equity to implement the university's nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policies by providing incident assessment, investigation and formal and informal resolution strategies; identifying appropriate disability accommodations for students and staff; conducting dynamic training and providing education on discrimination, harassment, Title IX, consent, support matters for students and employees to increase awareness.
Publications
- “Guilds Return as a Labor Hybrid, Aim to Deal with Uber, New Gig Economy,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (June 28, 2016)
- Employment and Labor Law Flashpoints, IICLE (monthly column February 2015-July 2016). Representative articles: "Significant New Developments Impact Employers On A Daily Basis," "EEOC Implements New Information-Sharing Procedures for Charges of Discrimination," "Why Not To Treat Reverse Discrimination Claims Like Minority Discrimination Claims," "EEOC Issues Draft Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation," "When Do Off-Duty Emails, Texts and Calls Turn Into Overtime Pay?" and "Employer's E-Mail Communications Established Discriminatory Motive."
- "Regulatory Changes to Ill. Wage Payment/Collection Act," Justinian Soc. Newsletter (Fall 2015)
- "Proposed EEOC Rules to Prevent Employee Wellness Programs for Compelling Participation," Management Association - The HR Source for Employers (July 2015)
- Contributing author, “Employment Discrimination,” ILLINOIS SCHOOL LAW , IICLE (2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015)
Education
Additional Information
In the News
- “Universities confront Title IX policy changes after proposed regulations, federal court rulings,” Kentwired.com, Laina Yost, Mar 31, 2019 Updated Apr 1, 2019
- “‘Yes means yes’: How Ohio universities teach students about consent,” Cleveland.com, Updated Nov 02, 2018; Posted Oct 29, 2018
- “Sexual Assault on College Campuses; Understanding Consent,” Sound of Ideas (radio), Ideastream.org, August 21, 2018