Trump admin backs Jewish professors discrimination case against CUNY school
The Trump administration filed federal court papers backing a Jewish professor who claimed she was subjected to a hostile work environment fueled by antisemitic, Israel-bashing protests at CUNY’s Hunter College.CUNY-Hunter filed a motion to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court by Leah Garrett, chair of the Jewish Studies Center, saying the vitriol was protected by free speech under the First Amendment.But the US Department of Justice headed by Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened in the case Monday, filing a “statement of interest” stressing the importance of abiding by the federal civil rights law that bars discrimination and subjecting employees and students in educational institutions to a hostile workplace.“CUNY Hunter may not simply rely on the First Amendment to avoid any scrutiny of whether it is liable under Title VI (Civil Rights law] for its failure to prevent disruptions that Dr.Garrett contends contributed to a hostile work environment,” the 26-page brief filed by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.“The First Amendment does not prevent CUNY Hunter from regulating material campus disruptions that may contribute to a hostile work environment under Title VI [of the civil rights law].”In her suit filed last December, Garrett ripped the public university’s leaders for turning a blind eye to antisemitic demonstrations across its Upper East Side campus in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct.
7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel.Garrett claimed the school allowed students to brandish posters with blood dripping from a Star of David and demanding Zionists be expelled.She also begged officials to cover up swastikas drawn on Israeli hostage posters around campus, claiming their hands were tied over bureaucratic and legal reasons, according to the suit.The Lawfare Project, the Jewish legal civil rights group representing Garrett along with the private law firm Alston & Bird, applauded the Justice Departmen...