The University of Pennsylvania is stonewalling a federal civil investigation over complaints it subjects its Jewish faculty to a hostile work environment, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says.
Earlier this year, the EEOC issued a subpoena to UPenn for information about potential unlawful employment practices. Though it was later modified to address concerns from the school, the subpoena has still not been answered, according to recently filed court documents.
“Respondent’s failure to comply with the subpoena has delayed and hampered the EEOC’s investigation,” the EEOC wrote in a November effort to enforce it in Philadelphia federal court.
The subpoena seeks information “about victims of and witnesses to an alleged antisemitic hostile work environment.”
Jewish students and a group called Students Against Antisemitism sued UPenn in 2023 but recently lost their civil rights case. Judge Mitchell Goldberg dismissed the case in June, curious as to why the 111-page complaint contained allegations of antisemitism in places all over the world.
The suit said UPenn refused to punish slurs and chants including “F— the Jews” since 2023, when the latest conflict between Israel and Palestine began.
“Deliberate indifference is a very high bar and Plaintiffs’ dissatisfaction with Penn’s responses is not enough to establish there was an official decision by Penn to not remedy a Title VI violation and that this deliberate indifference effectively caused racial discrimination,” Goldberg wrote.
Goldberg noted UPenn created a student advisory group and task force to address antisemitism. UPenn considered the students’ and EEOC’s cases and asked that Goldberg hear the latter but withdrew that request Wednesday, as Goldberg has since retired.
UPenn says it has received three antisemitism complaints out of 20,000 employees. It has claimed some of the information sought by the EEOC is confidential and irrelevant.
The EEOC charge cites public statements of antisemitism directed at Jewish faculty. Incidents include a swastika painted on an academic building, disturbing emails and pro-Hamas rallies.
