Latest news with #CivilRightsActof1964
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
UCLA agrees to $6.5m settlement with Jewish students over pro-Palestinian protests
The University of California, Los Angeles, will pay nearly $6.5m to settle a lawsuit by Jewish students and a professor who said the university allowed antisemitic discrimination to take place on campus during last year's pro-Palestinian protests. The lawsuit alleged that with the 'knowledge and acquiescence' of university officials, protesters prevented Jewish students from accessing parts of campus, and made antisemitic threats. Under the settlement agreement announced on Tuesday, the university admitted it had 'fallen short' and agreed to pay $2.33m to eight groups that support UCLA's Jewish community, $320,000 to a campus initiative to fight antisemitism, and $50,000 to each plaintiff. 'We are pleased with the terms of today's settlement. The injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism,' the parties said in a joint statement provided by the University of California. On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the US Department of Justice's civil rights division found UCLA violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 'by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students'. 'UCLA failed to take timely and appropriate action in response to credible claims of harm and hostility on its campus,' said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the justice department's civil rights division. The university has said that it is committed to campus safety and will continue to implement recommendations. UCLA was the site of massive protests last year amid a wave of campus demonstrations nationwide in response to the war in Gaza, in which Israeli forces have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, which experts say is probably an undercount. The protests at UCLA attracted national attention, particularly after counter-protesters staged a violent attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators. UCLA also faces a lawsuit from more than 30 pro-Palestinian protesters who say the university was negligent during the 'brutal mob assault' on the encampment and that officials did not intervene. 'This was four-plus hours of unmitigated violence while UCLA private security stood sometimes feet away and did nothing to protect the faculty, students and community members protesting genocide,' Thomas Harvey, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said earlier this year. The lawsuit that was settled this week was filed last year. This spring the Department of Justice announced it would investigate the University of California system for possible antisemitic discrimination and violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The university said it had taken 'substantive action' to combat antisemitism, including publicizing information about campus bans on encampments, opposing calls to boycott Israel and publishing a systemwide anti-discrimination policy. 'Antisemitism, harassment and other forms of intimidation are antithetical to our values and have no place at the University of California. We have been clear about where we have fallen short, and we are committed to doing better moving forward,' said Janet Reilly, the UC board of regents chair. 'Today's settlement reflects a critically important goal that we share with the plaintiffs: to foster a safe, secure and inclusive environment for all members of our community and ensure that there is no room for antisemitism anywhere.'
The Hill
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Federal agency sued for failing to enforce employment protections for transgender workers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination, has refused since January to fully enforce employment protections for transgender workers, two left-leaning legal organizations argue in a new lawsuit. A complaint filed Tuesday by Democracy Forward and the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) on behalf of FreeState Justice, a Maryland nonprofit, alleges the EEOC and its acting chair, Andrea Lucas, are violating federal civil rights law, the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent by declining to process certain discrimination complaints raised by transgender workers. The EEOC first halted the charge-investigation process for charges tied to sexual orientation or gender identity in January, the lawsuit alleges, following an executive order from President Trump declaring that the U.S. recognizes only two unchangeable sexes, male and female. In April, the agency directed staff to classify charges of gender identity discrimination as meritless and put them on hold, the Associated Press reported at the time. In a July email to staff that was first reported by the Washington Post, Thomas Colclough, director of the EEOC's field operations, said the agency would only process cases that 'fall squarely' under the Supreme Court's 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that firing transgender workers because of their gender identity violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The agency would process standalone hiring, dismissal and promotion charges brought by transgender workers, Colclough wrote, but would not investigate other claims, including workplace harassment, that are tied to gender identity. Tuesday's lawsuit, filed in Maryland district court, refers to the agency's new policy as the 'Trans Exclusion Policy' and argues that it 'deprives transgender workers of the full set of charge-investigation and other enforcement protections that the EEOC provides to other workers.' 'Consider, for example, the transgender worker who files a charge of discrimination with the EEOC after a years-long barrage of on-the-job anti-trans insults and slurs, threats of sexual and lethal violence, and physical attacks,' the lawsuit says. 'Before the Trans Exclusion Policy, a charge alleging such facts would have led the EEOC to process and investigate the charge, which in turn might have yielded a finding by the EEOC that there was reasonable cause to believe the charging party had been subject to unlawful treatment.' 'Under the Trans Exclusion Policy, the EEOC would not investigate, issue a cause finding, attempt to settle, or take any other step to process the charge,' the lawsuit continues. 'All because the charging party is transgender.' An EEOC spokesperson directed The Hill's request for comment to the Justice Department, which did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the complaint. Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for education and workplace justice at NWLC, said in a statement that the EEOC under Lucas's leadership is 'promoting discrimination.' 'Transgender workers deserve to be protected against harassment, and the EEOC is obligated to do so under law,' Burroughs said. 'But the Trump administration seems hellbent on bullying transgender people in every possible way and ensuring that they are pushed out of all forms of public life, including their workplaces, so we're taking the administration to court.' Lucas, who has served as an EEOC commissioner since 2020 and was named the agency's acting chair in January, had previously listed 'defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights' as one of her top priorities. During a Senate confirmation hearing in June, Lucas defended her decision to dismiss several of the EEOC's own cases filed on behalf of transgender workers, arguing the cases conflict with Trump's 'two sexes' order. 'Biology is not bigotry. Biological sex is real, and it matters,' Lucas said in January. 'Sex is binary (male and female) and immutable. It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths—or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly.' Lucas has also voiced opposition to the EEOC's anti-harassment guidelines, which state that gender identity discrimination is prohibited by Title VII and 'sex-based harassment includes harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including how that identity is expressed.' Lucas, who voted against the policy when the EEOC brought it to a vote last year, cannot unilaterally remove or modify it.
The Guardian
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
UCLA agrees to $6.5m settlement with Jewish students over pro-Palestinian protests
The University of California, Los Angeles, will pay nearly $6.5m to settle a lawsuit by Jewish students and a professor who said the university allowed antisemitic discrimination to take place on campus during last year's pro-Palestinian protests. The lawsuit alleged that with the 'knowledge and acquiescence' of university officials, protesters prevented Jewish students from accessing parts of campus, and made antisemitic threats. Under the settlement agreement announced on Tuesday, the university admitted it had 'fallen short' and agreed to pay $2.33m to eight groups that support UCLA's Jewish community, $320,000 to a campus initiative to fight antisemitism, and $50,000 to each plaintiff. 'We are pleased with the terms of today's settlement. The injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism,' the parties said in a joint statement provided by the University of California. UCLA was the site of massive protests last year amid a wave of campus demonstrations nationwide in response to the war in Gaza, in which Israeli forces have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians. The protests at UCLA attracted national attention, particularly after counter-protesters staged a violent attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators. UCLA also faces a lawsuit from more than 30 pro-Palestinian protesters who say the university was negligent during the 'brutal mob assault' on the encampment and that officials did not intervene. 'This was four-plus hours of unmitigated violence while UCLA private security stood sometimes feet away and did nothing to protect the faculty, students and community members protesting genocide,' Thomas Harvey, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said earlier this year. The lawsuit that was settled this week was filed last year. This spring the Department of Justice announced it would investigate the University of California system for possible antisemitic discrimination and violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The university said it has taken 'substantive action' to combat antisemitism, including publicizing information about campus bans on encampments, opposing calls to boycott Israel and publishing a systemwide anti-discrimination policy. 'Antisemitism, harassment, and other forms of intimidation are antithetical to our values and have no place at the University of California. We have been clear about where we have fallen short, and we are committed to doing better moving forward,' said Janet Reilly, the UC board of regents chair. 'Today's settlement reflects a critically important goal that we share with the plaintiffs: to foster a safe, secure and inclusive environment for all members of our community and ensure that there is no room for antisemitism anywhere.'
Epoch Times
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Education Department Probing Duke University, Law Journal for Breaching Title VI
The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Duke University and the Duke Law Journal over alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it said in a July 28 statement. 'This investigation is based on recent reporting alleging that Duke University (Duke) discriminates on the bases of race, color, and/or national origin by using these factors to select law journal members,' the department said.
Fox News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Dept. of Education launches investigation into Duke University over alleged racial preferences
The Department of Education announced on Monday that it is launching an investigation into Duke University and Duke Law Journal over alleged racial biases in selecting new editors. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) cited reports that the Law Journal circulated a packet to school "affinity groups" in 2024 regarding the application process to join the Journal in the new year. Each applicant was asked to write a 12-page memo analyzing an appellate court decision and a 500-word personal statement which would be judged on a points-based grading system along with their first-year GPA. However, applicants from these "affinity groups" were reportedly given the opportunity to receive extra points if their statements referenced their "race or ethnicity" and up to 10 points for describing how their "membership in an underrepresented group" promoted "diverse voices." The OCR believes that this action could be a potential violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "If Duke illegally gives preferential treatment to law journal or medical school applicants based on those students' immutable characteristics, that is an affront not only to civil rights law, but to the meritocratic character of academic excellence," Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. "Blatantly discriminatory practices that are illegal under the Constitution, antidiscrimination law, and Supreme Court precedent have become all too common in our educational institutions. The Trump Administration will not allow them to continue." McMahon, along with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sent a joint letter to Duke University requesting the school "review all policies and practices at Duke Health for the illegal use of race preferences, take immediate action to reform all of those that unlawfully take account of race or ethnicity to bestow benefits or advantages, and provide clear and verifiable assurances to the government that Duke's new policies will be implemented faithfully going forward—including by making all necessary organizational, leadership, and personnel changes to ensure the necessary reforms will be durable." The department is also requesting Duke University set up a "Merit and Civil Rights Committee" to help resolve further civil rights violations. Fox News Digital reached out to Duke University and Duke Law Journal for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Duke University has come under fire multiple times for racial preferences and pushes for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the past year. Last year, Fox News Digital reported on a 2021 plan titled "Dismantling Racism and Advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine" for Duke Medical School. The guide called out standards such as dress codes, timeliness and individualism as examples of "White supremacy culture." Dr. Kendall Conger also told Fox News Digital in 2024 that he was fired from Duke University's health system after speaking against the university's pledge against racism, which called racism a "public health crisis." "It wasn't so much a pledge to better medicine, but a pledge to left-wing ideology. And so, I felt if I did not say anything, I was giving tacit approval to what was in the pledge," Conger said at the time.
