Lawyers for Metro Nashville Public Schools are arguing that the circulation of videos of unwelcome sexual encounters — taken without the permission or knowledge of the high school girls depicted in them — does not rise to the level of sexual harassment.

The arguments were filed during an ongoing, multi-million dollar lawsuit against MNPS by four girls and their parents by attorneys with the Metro Legal Department.

The girls say on separate occasions, in different schools, they were each subject to unwanted sexual encounters that were videoed without their knowledge — a practice kids have nicknamed "exposing."

The videos were later circulated widely among the girls' peers, leading to harassment on social media and in their schools, according to the lawsuit.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger denied a request by Metro lawyers to dismissing the claims before a trial.

Lawsuit: MNPS failed to protect students despite knowing of sex videos, judge says advancing lawsuit

Trauger said there was "ample evidence" to show school officials knew there was a harassment problem in schools, including the circulation of videos, and failed to protect students.

Metro's latest filings come as officials seek to appeal specific legal issues before moving forward with a trial, a procedure known as an "interlocutory appeal." In granting the school district's petition to appeal, Trauger pointedly corrected Metro's summary of her previous orders in the two-year-long case.

School attorneys "characterize the court's holding that 'circulation of a sexually explicit video is akin to a sexual assault.'"

On the contrary, Trauger wrote, the girls' "claims were not staked on the premise they were raped ... the harassment alleged extended beyond the initial sexual encounters to include (1) the taking of videos without consent and, in most cases without the plaintiffs' knowledge; (2) the circulation of the videos; and (3) post-incident peer harassment in varying degrees."

She continued: "One need not engage in a crass ranking of traumatic sexual experiences against each other to conclude that a reasonable juror could find actionable harassment based on the plaintiff's facts."

Sexual assault is among the forms of sexual harassment that federal Title IX rules require schools to both prevent and appropriately respond to.

Trauger also ruled that Title IX case law never contemplated the modern dangers of electronic communications and that the issue would be appropriate for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide.

Metro lawyers in the case —Keli Oliver, Melissa Roberge, Phylinda Ramsey, and J. Brooks Fox are also seeking the Sixth Circuit's ruling on whether data introduced on disciplinary actions involving student misconduct could be used to conclude that the district was on notice there was a sexual harassment problem within its schools.

The data introduced by Stephen Crofford, an attorney representing the girls, showed that there were over 950 instances of sexual harassment, 1200 instances of inappropriate sexual behavior, 45 sexual assaults and 218 instance of inappropriate sexual contact documented by the district from 2012 to 2016.

Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com; 615-259-8092 or follow her on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani