Months after UC Berkeley’s own Office for Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination substantiated the discrimination claims, university acknowledges violation of its anti-discrimination policy, commits to future action, will pay monetary damages Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2025) – Today the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and UC Berkeley announced a settlement to resolve the discrimination claims brought forward by an Israeli researcher against the University. According to a joint statement issued by the Brandeis Center and the university, UC Berkeley’s own investigation last year found that discrimination had occurred, but Dr. Yael Nativ’s harm was not addressed prior to the Brandeis Center’s lawsuit. The joint statement, included below, sets forth the details of the lawsuit. “The lawsuit alleged that a UC Berkeley department chair declined Dr. Yael Nativ’s application to teach because she was Israeli, a complaint substantiated by UC Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination (OPHD). As part of the settlement, UC Berkeley publicly acknowledges the violation of UC Berkeley’s policy against discrimination with regard to Dr. Nativ and commits to rigorously enforce this policy to prevent recurrence. “When the discrimination against Dr. Nativ was reported to UC Berkeley’s OPHD, the Office opened an investigation and found that Dr. Nativ was the victim of discrimination in violation of the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy, which prohibits discrimination, including discrimination based on Israeli national origin or Israeli citizenship. In resolution of the Brandeis Center’s lawsuit filed on behalf of Dr. Nativ, UC Berkeley has agreed to take the necessary actions to address this issue. “As part of the settlement, UC Berkeley has agreed to continue to strictly enforce the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy and ‘respond promptly and equitably to reports’ of Prohibited Conduct as defined in that Policy, including by taking ‘appropriate action to stop, prevent, and remedy the Prohibited Conduct and, when appropriate, to impose corrective action/disciplinary measures.’ Dr. Nativ will receive a personal apology from UC Berkeley’s Chancellor Rich Lyons and monetary damages in the amount of $60,000, a portion of which she has decided to donate to a charitable organization. In addition, UC Berkeley will invite Dr. Nativ to teach the course she was not invited to teach—and which she successfully taught during a previous semester at UC Berkeley—in a semester of her choosing. The excellence of Dr. Nativ’s teaching was never in question, and UC Berkeley appreciates Dr. Nativ’s willingness to teach the course despite the discrimination that OPHD found to have occurred.” Below is a separate statement from Hon. Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education who ran the Office for Civil Rights and Dr. Nativ, as well as additional background. “Every individual has the right to learn, to teach, and to thrive in an educational environment without fear of discrimination, harassment, or persecution. UC Berkeley is now taking targeted and appropriate action regarding the discrimination that our client experienced. While there is still much more work to be done on this campus to confront growing anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment — including in connection with our pending lawsuit on behalf of Berkeley Jewish students — these steps mark an important development.” “I welcome the resolution of this case and am gratified that the facts have been acknowledged and addressed. I extend my sincere appreciation to my legal counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and at Olivier & Schreiber for their rigorous, principled, and unwavering efforts throughout this process,” said Dr. Yael Nativ. “Institutions of higher education bear a fundamental responsibility to uphold the values of equity, inquiry, and open dialogue. Incidents of discrimination of any kind must have no place within environments dedicated to learning and the free exchange of ideas. It is my hope that this outcome contributes to strengthening these commitments for all scholars and students.” In November 2023, the Brandeis Center filed a separate lawsuit against UC Berkeley for violating university policy and federal civil rights laws by allowing the “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on campus. According to the lawsuit, this negligence resulted in discrimination, harassment, and physical violence against Jewish students and faculty. Examples include the policies of 23+ student organizations to discriminate against and exclude Jewish students, faculty, and scholars; the attack of a Jewish student draped in an Israeli flag by protesters who struck him with a metal water bottle; and the dissemination of hate e-mails to Jewish students calling for their gassing and murder. In April 2025, a district court judge ruled that the Brandeis Center’s lawsuit could move forward.The lawsuit against UCB is just one of dozens of complaints that the Brandeis Center has filed on behalf of Jewish university students, with others including Harvard University, University of Illinois, Ohio State University, Cal Poly Humboldt, UC Santa Barbara, and more. The Brandeis Center has also filed federal lawsuits in response to anti-Semitic incidents at Stanford, Columbia, and UCLA, and the U.S. Department of Education is investigating numerous Brandeis Center complaints, including against the University of Southern California, Yale University, UMass Amherst, Scripps College, and American University.