Justice Department sues University of California
Case stems from claims of antisemitism at UCLA
By: Paris Baraza
USA Today Network
..... The Department of Justice sued the University of California on February 24, [2026] alleging Jewish and Israeli employees at its University of California, Los Angeles, campus faced discrimination and a hostile work environment at a campus where antisemitic acts were described as "severe": and of a :pervasive nature."
.....
The lawsuit, filed by its civil Rights Division, comes nearly a year after the DOJ opened an investigation into the University of California to determine whether it engaged in discrimination against its staff and faculty "by allowing an antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses."
..... In March, [2025] nearly a dozen California schools received letters form the U.S. Department of Education over investigations into allegations of antisemitic discrimination and harassment.
..... The DOJ alleges UCLA is in violation of Title VII, which bans employment discrimination based or race, color, religion, sex and national origin, and said it will do what the University of California has "failed to do: protect Jewish and Israeli employees" form "illegal antisemitic harassment in their workplace."
..... UCLA and the University of California did not immediately respond to the USA Today Network's request for comment.
..... According to the court filing, UCLA faced a rise in antisemitism after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The DOJ claims that how UCLA is structured to handle complaints for discrimination and harassment leads to "systemic failure to properly investigate and redress antisemitism complaints" and that mandatory reporters at UCLA "repeatedly failed" to report antisemitic acts.
..... "The general atmosphere of antisemitism was, and remains, so severe and pervasive that UCLA;s own official Task Force on antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias concluded that the University 's failure to protect Jewish staff and faculty constituted a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII ... this suit seeks to right these wrongs," according to a court filing.
....
UCLA was previously accused of antisemitism on its campus, but the focus was on students.
..... In July, [2025] the DOJ's civil rights arm claimed UCLA "failed to adequately respond to complaints of severe, pervasive and objectively offensive harassment and abuse that Jewish and Israeli stunts faced on tis campus from October 7, 2023 to the present."
..... Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications, issued a statement on February 24 [2026] maintainability that antisemitism has no place at UCLA, as UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk has previously said.
.....
Osako pointed to UCLA's Initiative to combat antisemitism, announced in March, [2025] as one of several examples of the university's efforts to combat antisemitism. Recommendations made by the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias would be implemented through the initiative, Frenk said last year. [2025]
..... UCLA has reorganized its Office of Civil Rights, hired a dedicated Title VI/title VII officer, and appointed an associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety, according to Osako's statement.