Justice Department Launches Hostile Workplace Probe into University of California

The Justice Department opened an investigation into the University of California to determine if the UC system has allowed an Antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses.

The investigation, being conducted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, will assess whether UC has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, religion and national origin against its professors, staff and other employees.

According to an announcement by the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, the investigation aims to determine if the UC system allowed an Antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses.

According to Leo Terrell, a task force member and senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks in Israel, there has been an outbreak of antisemitic incidents at higher education institutions.

“The impact upon UC’s students has been the subject of considerable media attention and multiple federal investigations,” Terrell stated. “But these campuses are also workplaces, and the Jewish faculty and staff employed there deserve a working environment free of antisemitic hostility and hate.”