Demetrius concentrates his practice on serving educational institutions.
He has significant experience advising higher education clients on complex issues relating to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments, the Rehabilitation Act and the Age Discrimination Act, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and their implementing regulations.
Demetrius also has represented public school districts in U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) proceedings. While working with public school districts, he conducted comprehensive investigations on behalf of school boards into various allegations of wrongdoing from students and employees. As a trusted advisor, Demetrius counseled school district administrators and staff members in the areas of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, Title VI , Title IX, the ADA, IDEA, Section 504, FMLA, FLSA, FERPA, tenure, due process, and other student and employee conduct and discipline issues.
Before joining Husch Blackwell, Demetrius served as in-house legal counsel for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. There he advised team members on complex legal issues relating to the investigation, negotiation and resolution of complaints and compliance reviews and the acceptance and monitoring of corrective action agreements.
In addition, Demetrius advised the OCR on negotiating cases and developed and made recommendations on alternative approaches for implementing state statutes and state agency regulations, policies and guidelines where conflicts may exist between state and federal law.