Trump administration sues University of California over alleged 'hostile' environment for Jewish and Israeli UCLA employees

Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times on Feb 24, 2026

Published in News & Features

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LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration on Tuesday sued the University of California, alleging that UCLA administrators have “routinely ignored” and “failed to report” employee complaints of antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s war in Gaza spurred a surge in pro-Palestinian campus activism.

In the 81-page federal lawsuit, filed in California’s Central District, the Department of Justice alleges that UCLA has an ongoing, “severe and pervasive” antisemitism problem, citing pro-Palestinian protests — including one in January — that it contends are anti-Jewish or anti-Israel.

A UC spokesperson directed the Los Angeles Times to UCLA for comment. A UCLA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request.

The federal suit is a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s actions against UC, which have included multiple civil rights investigations launched since 2025 into the system or individual campuses.

In August, the Trump administration demanded that UC pay nearly $1.2 billion to settle civil rights investigations into UCLA related to complaints of antisemitism against students and employees, allegations of race-based affirmative action and the recognition of transgender people’s gender identities on campus.

Tuesday’s suit stems from an investigation the department launched last March into allegations of workplace antisemitism at UCLA. At the time, government attorneys said they believed there was a “potential pattern” of discrimination against Jewish employees.

“Based on our investigation, UCLA administrators allegedly allowed virulent antisemitism to flourish on campus, harming students and staff alike,” U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said in a statement Tuesday. “Today’s lawsuit underscores that this Department of Justice stands strong against hate and antisemitism in all its vile forms.”

The suit is filed against UC but it focused on allegations pertaining to UCLA.

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