Frankel v. Regents of the University of California

Summary

In late April and early May 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters established an encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles campus. According to a federal lawsuit filed by Jewish law student Yitzchok Frankel and two other students, activists created “Jew Exclusion Zones” where Jewish students were excluded, and UCLA administration failed to intervene. The plaintiffs alleged these actions violated their civil rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination at federally funded institutions. During this period, violent clashes occurred between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and pro-Israel counterprotesters, and four student journalists were attacked on May 1, 2024.

On August 14, 2024, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring UCLA to ensure equal and unimpeded access to all areas of campus for Jewish students and faculty. The court found that the university may have enabled or tolerated discriminatory conduct by failing to act when Jewish individuals were excluded from public campus spaces. The judge stated that university officials could face personal liability for knowingly allowing such conduct to persist.

In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest supporting the plaintiffs, asserting that UCLA’s failure to act may have violated federal civil rights protections and emphasizing that public universities have a legal duty to protect students from religious-based exclusion and harassment, even in the context of protest activity.

On July 29, 2025, UCLA agreed to pay $6.13 million to settle complaints of antisemitic discrimination brought by Jewish students and faculty. The settlement included contributions to Jewish organizations, funding for UCLA initiatives to combat antisemitism, and payments to the plaintiffs. It required UCLA to adopt protest guidelines, establish a dedicated safety office, strengthen policies against antisemitism, enhance training for staff and students, improve reporting and response mechanisms, and appoint a compliance officer. The settlement also included a permanent court order preventing exclusion of Jewish students and faculty from campus areas.

The DOJ subsequently issued a formal finding that UCLA violated federal civil rights laws by permitting a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students during the 2024 protests, concluding the university acted with deliberate indifference to antisemitic discrimination and violated both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

On February 24, 2026, the Department of Justice filed a separate civil rights lawsuit against the University of California, alleging that UCLA had created a hostile work environment for Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint claims antisemitic acts persisted after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and that university administrators failed to prevent or correct discriminatory conduct against employees, part of a broader federal effort to enforce protections against antisemitism in higher education.