Federal complaint filed over ‘antisemitism’ at UW protests

Lawsuit accuses UW of antisemitism

The University of Washington is now facing a civil lawsuit on accusations of antisemitism, filed on behalf of UW's Jewish students.

SEATTLE - The University of Washington faces a lawsuit on accusations of antisemitism.

The new federal complaint was filed on September 24 on behalf of UW’s Jewish students. The complaint comes just a few days before the one-year mark of the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Since the October 7 attack, several protests supporting Palestine have happened on the UW campus. In the new complaint, it said UW knew about antisemitic incidents, but did not take "meaningful" actions to address the "hostile climate for Jewish students."

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. The lawsuit claims discrimination against Jewish people started on campus right after the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel.

The lawsuit claims vandals repeatedly covered the campus with antisemitic graffiti and called for physical violence against Jewish people. It also detailed multiple instances when the large pro-Palestine encampment took over UW’s "Quad" for several weeks.

The Brandeis Center accused the university of violating Title VI. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Title VI "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in educational institutions that receive federal funding."

The complaint called for the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to investigate the university.

FOX 13 Seattle contacted UW to address the accusations of antisemitism, as well as any comment on the complaint filed, and they sent the following response:

"The University of Washington is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students, faculty and staff, and we are cooperating with the Office of Civil Rights as it investigates these complaints. We are in active discussions with OCR to resolve the matter and address the concerns these complaints have raised. While we are anticipating the Oct. 15 release of the final report and recommendations from the UW’s task forces on antisemitism and Islamophobia, we have taken steps to reiterate our community expectations and guidelines around freedom of expression.

"As UW President Ana Mari Cauce stated in her Sept. 16 blog post, "When protest activities become disruptive, inciting or are accompanied by the destruction of public resources, we will first and foremost take action to protect people’s physical safety. We will also take whatever action is necessary and appropriate to allow the University to continue operations and serve our teaching, research and service mission. This includes enabling all community members to use public spaces and facilities appropriately and without being harassed or threatened."

"Some allegations of alleged antisemitic behavior have been reported to us and referred to the appropriate investigative office at the UW. We encourage any Jewish student facing bias or harassment on campus to report it through our university bias or student conduct reporting tool. These reporting mechanisms are actively reviewed, and follow-up is coordinated by the Office of Student Life. We take reports seriously and are committed to doing all we can to address them."