Seven Jewish professors and staff members at the University of California, Los Angeles, are seeking to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit alleging antisemitism and a hostile work environment at the school.
The department filed the suit against the university in February, alleging that UCLA violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli employees from harassment and discrimination.
In a motion filed on Tuesday, the seven employees stated that they have “been subjected to the same discriminatory conduct” described in the federal complaint and are seeking to intervene in the case. (JNS sought comment from the university.)
According to the Justice Department, antisemitic incidents at UCLA intensified after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with Jewish faculty and staff allegedly facing threats, workplace disruptions and exclusion from parts of campus.
Holtzman Vogel, the law firm representing the employees, stated that “UCLA—one of the nation’s premier public universities—allowed antisemitism to flourish on its campus while punishing Jewish-Zionist faculty who spoke out against it.”
“Our clients devoted their careers to UCLA, only to be subjected to harassment, physical assault, exclusion and retaliation simply because they are Jewish,” the firm stated. “This lawsuit seeks to hold UCLA accountable and to ensure that no faculty member is ever again subjected to such blatant discrimination.”
