The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil rights complaint alleging the University of California at Los Angeles created a hostile work environment for Jewish and Israeli employees.
UCLA is accused in the lawsuit filed Tuesday of failing to prevent and correct discriminatory and harassing conduct following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
“Based on our investigation, UCLA administrators allegedly allowed virulent anti-Semitism to flourish on campus, harming students and staff alike,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
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The lawsuit demands that the university enforce anti-discrimination policies and asks a judge to award unspecified damages to “aggrieved Jewish and Israeli UCLA employees” who have been subjected to a hostile work environment.
The new case follows the administration’s decision to drop an earlier fight with UCLA over similar issues.
Last year, the administration cut around $584 million in funding and grants to the UC system, based in part on claims that UCLA had failed to prevent attacks against Jewish and Israeli students, and later proposed that the school pay $1.2 billion to settle the matter.
A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the defunding in November, siding with a group of faculty and employee unions who alleged the administration was using the funding cuts to target free speech and research. The administration appealed in January and then dropped its appeal this month.
Representatives of UCLA and the University of California Office of the President didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Top photo: People walk on the plaza outside Royce Hall on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. Bloomberg.
Topics Lawsuits
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