This month, the Brandeis Center continues to lead the fight against anti-Semitism on and off America’s campuses and workplaces. From new legal actions against K-12 schools in Virginia, California, and Massachusetts, to a new lawsuit filed against Stanford University, we are using an array of legal tools to hold institutions accountable. Our work has also led to key victories—including a federal court allowing a critical labor law case to proceed and Microsoft’s changes to discriminatory policies against Jewish employees. Catch up below on the latest legal actions, media coverage, and thought leadership from our team. In this issue: Brandeis Center Sues Nysmith School Alleging Severe Anti-Semitic Bullying Brandeis Center Sues Stanford University New Complaint Alleges Violation of Brown Act at CA Public Schools Federal Civil Rights Brief Detailed Rampant Anti-Semitic Abuse at MA High School Lawsuit Against ALAA Survives Motion to Dismiss Microsoft Equalizes Treatment of Jewish Employee Network Israel on Campus Coalition’s National Leadership Summit Meets in DC Content Catch Up: Interviews, Events, and More Brandeis Center Sues Nysmith School Alleging Severe Anti-Semitic Bullying At the beginning of July, the Brandeis Center and Dillon PLC filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office on behalf of a Jewish family, alleging that the Nysmith School violated the Virginia Human Rights Act. The complaint claims that the private K–8 school in Northern Virginia expelled three Jewish siblings after their parents alerted the headmaster to severe and persistent anti-Semitic bullying directed at one of their daughters. “Through its actions, the administration sent a clear message: bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families. We must all emulate the strength of these parents and their children and stand up to anti-Semitism and its perpetrators, as difficult as it may be. In addition to action from legal authorities, it is high time for public moral outrage; the normalization of anti-Semitism must stop,” Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman and CEO of the Brandeis Center, said. Following the filing, the case received widespread attention across media and from government officials, including from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares who discussed the allegations on Fox News, saying, “if what’s alleged in here is true, it absolutely meets the definition of a violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act.” Brandeis Center Sues Stanford University The Brandeis Center, along with Cohen Williams LLP, filed a federal lawsuit against Stanford University on behalf of Israeli postdoctoral fellow Dr. Shay Laps, who faced discrimination and harassment after being pushed out of his lab for being Jewish and Israeli. As outlined in the complaint, Dr. Laps alleges he was told that Israeli academics were not welcome and subjected to a hostile environment simply because of his nationality and beliefs. Dr. Laps was isolated and sabotaged by multiple individuals at Stanford, even including his former mentor. When Dr. Laps brought the hostile treatment he was experiencing to his mentor and the lab’s leader, he attempted to bully Dr. Laps into leaving the country. The lab leader – falsely – claimed that Stanford’s Title IX Office had alerted him to a complaint and formal investigation against Dr. Laps, and pressured Dr. Laps to flee. Dr. Laps reached out for help, writing to Stanford President Jonathan Levin and the School of Medicine Dean Lloyd B. Minor, only for the Stanford administration to disregard his claims, ultimately resulting in his resignation. New Complaint Alleges Violation of Brown Act at CA Public Schools The Brandeis Center and law firm Cohen Williams LLP filed a legal complaint against the Palo Alto Unified School District, charging the district with violating California law and deceiving the public about a newly imposed ethnic-studies graduation requirement. The complaint charges that the district misled the public and quietly approved a controversial ethnic-studies graduation requirement without proper notice or transparency.The district’s actions “are part of a concerning trend emerging in K-12 schools, where board members act behind closed doors and without the required public notice in order to approve K-12 curriculum that may be controversial, inflame bigotry and even be unlawful,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus. Federal Civil Rights Brief Detailed Rampant Anti-Semitic Abuse at MA High School Along with the ADL and a pro bono team at the law firm Mayer Brown, the Brandeis Center filed a brief with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that officials at the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District in Massachusetts failed to protect Jewish students from pervasive anti-Semitic harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. According to the filing, school and district officials—including the superintendent, administrators, principals, and the district’s Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging—repeatedly failed to take timely or effective action to protect the targeted Jewish student and confront the underlying antisemitic attitudes in the school community, despite receiving numerous reports spanning multiple academic years. The abuse described in the filing included Nazi salutes in school hallways, students dividing themselves into teams called “Team Auschwitz” and “Team Hamas” during athletic games, swastikas drawn in notebooks and on school property, and the use of antisemitic slurs such as “kike,” “dirty Jew,” and “go to the gas chamber.”Three weeks after our legal filing, hundreds attended a virtual meeting of the Select Board and School Committee, demanding answers about the anti-Semitic acts described in the filing. Lawsuit Against ALAA Survives Motion to Dismiss The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that federal labor law claims brought by union members against the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) UAW Local 2325 could proceed, rejecting the ALAA’s motion to dismiss the case. The lawsuit was brought over the ALAA’s attempt to expel four Nassau County Legal Aid attorneys – three Jewish and one Christian ally – in retaliation for their filing of an earlier lawsuit opposing the ALAA’s anti-Israel resolution shortly after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack. Brandeis Center senior counsel Rory Lancman reacted, “In standing up for what it is right, these courageous legal aid lawyers faced expulsion and a campaign of demonization that has taken an enormous toll on then, both professionally and personally. We look forward to proceeding with this case and fully vindicating their rights under federal labor law.” Microsoft Commits to Reforms that LDB Demanded Earlier this year, the Brandeis Center warned Microsoft of legal action on behalf of Microsoft’s Jewish employees if it continued to distribute professional benefits and advantages through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) on the basis of ethnic or racial identity, while denying these benefits to Jewish employees.This month, following pressure from the Brandeis Center, Microsoft committed to reforms that would ensure equal treatment for Jewish employees and all others. This included equalizing its treatment of its Jewish employee network, “Jews at Microsoft,” alongside other recognized and funded ethnicity-based employee networks. In response, the Brandeis Center commended Microsoft and congratulated its Jewish members. Microsoft’s nine top-tier employee networks, designated as ERGs, were company-recognized, sponsored, and supported organizations of employees within Microsoft based around a particular identifying characteristic, such as ethnicity, that afforded members of that ethnic group extra opportunities for professional development, career advancement, and the ability to collectively oppose discrimination in the workplace. Microsoft had not recognized religion as a category of identity permitted to establish an ERG, and refused to recognize the ethnic characteristic of Jewish identity; thus, Microsoft refused to recognize a Jewish ERG, denying Jewish Microsoft employees benefits that are provided to others. This violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Israel on Campus Coalition’s National Leadership Summit Meets in Washington, DC Earlier this week, Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin delivered powerful remarks at Israel on Campus Coalition’s National Leadership Summit. Over 1,000 Jewish students, faculty, and leaders convened in Washington, DC to train in civic engagement, coalition building, and how to respond to anti-Semitic incidents on campus. Ms. Lewin was joined on a keynote panel by Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where they discussed the external influences exacerbating campus anti-Semitism, students’ legal protections against it, and the importance of proudly claiming Jewish peoplehood and history — not only to ensure campuses are safe for all students, but to reinforce the protections of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Lewin also led a breakout session for students to learn about legal tools and defend their Jewish identity on campus. Watch some of her message and follow her on Instagram for more. Content Catch Up: Podcasts, Interviews, and More In a forceful op-ed for USA Today, Brandeis Center Chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Marcus condemns the increase in anti-Semitism present in America’s mental health field and argues for the federal government to defund Decolonizing Therapy: America’s mental health field is overrun with antisemitism. It’s dangerous. Kenneth L. Marcus appeared on Fox News to discuss the Trump administration’s crackdown on moral ‘rot’ in higher education. Watch the segment here. Senior Counsel Paul Eckles joined WGN Radio’s Legal Face-Off to discuss our lawsuit against MIT. Watch his segment here. Alyza D. Lewin spoke at the Louis D. Brandeis Law Society’s 41st annual Jewish Law Day about “The Legal Toolbox to Counter Erasive Anti-Semitism.” Watch her remarks here. Kenneth L. Marcus joined Sandra Parker, Chairwoman of the Board of CUFI Action Fund, and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, to discuss the importance of the Antisemitism Awareness Act at the Christians United for Israel 2025 Washington Summit. Watch the conversation here. New on the blog: the Brandeis Center published a casebook review of Professor Robert Katz’s Antisemitism and the Law, and recapped the Supreme Court’s decision in Miriam Fuld, et al., v. Palestine Liberation Organization, et. al. Upcoming Event: On August 12, join the Brandeis Center’s Senior Counsel Rory Lancman and Jewish ERGs Executive Director Steven Phillips for an essential conversation on the legal landscape and business case for Jewish Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Get more information and sign up here.