Active Litigation Protecting Jewish Students Nationwide
The Deborah Project represents students, families, and faculty in cases we've filed in federal and state courts and in internal disciplinary and other proceedings.We believe strongly that, while negotiation can sometimes be effective, being ready to go court, and actually going when the other side won’t see reason, are the best ways to ensure that Jewish rights are respected and protected.
We have successfully represented students and faculty in disciplinary proceedings, leading to the dropping of charges pressed by anti-Israel antisemites, and often willingly supported by hostile or fearful administrators. We currently represent students, parents and faculty in state and federal courts on the East and West coasts, prosecuting claims that specific colleges and school districts are hostile environment for Jews who refuse to hide their commitment to the Jewish state.
We also frequently file, or represent others who file, public records requests to flush out into the sunlight the antisemitic materials that schools, or antisemitic teachers, use and often seek to hide. We have prevailed, and forced school districts to pay our legal fees, in such cases.
K-12 Public School Cases
HIESTER et al v. SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA
Pennsylvania — Federal Court
Families allege the district failed to protect Jewish students after a disciplinary incident involving a school prayer space. The students were publicly identified and subsequently subjected to death threats and harassment. The complaint asserts federal civil-rights violations and seeks injunctive relief and damages.
O.S, A.S. v. PA Suburban School District
Pennsylvania
This action concerns a middle-school student who allegedly experienced repeated antisemitic harassment, including physical assaults and slurs, over an extended period. The complaint asserts that school officials failed to intervene adequately despite multiple reports. Claims include violations of federal nondiscrimination protections applicable to federally funded schools. The matter is currently in active settlement discussions.
Families v. Major Urban School District
Pennsylvania
Four boys were accused of illegally entering or allowing to enter a former student into a high school at the very end of the school year. The boys were reported for allegedly trashing and otherwise violating a Muslim prayer room in the library of this (public) school and with making sexual gestures on Muslim prayer objects and insulting Muslims. None of this happened. But the four boys, based on the false reports and without any investigation, were summarily suspended and their names and alleged acts were sent out on social media – leading to death threats—and teachers not only shared this on their social media, but also denounced the boys at public school board meetings.
Fendel & The Deborah Project v. Berkeley Unified School District
California | State Court
This case seeks disclosure of curricular materials under California public-records law. Plaintiffs allege the district improperly withheld records relating to classroom instructional content. The lawsuit requests judicial enforcement of public-records requirements and production of the requested materials.
A.F. v. Berkeley Unified School District
California | Superior Court
Parents challenge the classroom use of certain ethnic-studies materials, alleging a discriminatory educational environment. The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief.
CJPTLA v. Liberated Ethnic Studies Consortium
California | 2004
The Deborah Project represents parents and teachers alleging that curricular content was introduced without proper review and contained material alleged to be discriminatory. The action challenges both the content and the process by which it was adopted. Relief sought includes removal of the challenged materials and policy compliance measures.
Kasle et al. v. Van Putten (Sequoia) Union High School District)
California — U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (2024)
Students allege the district failed to address persistent harassment and used instructional materials alleged to contain antisemitic content. The federal complaint asserts violations of civil-rights protections applicable to public education institutions receiving federal funding. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief and damages.
Deborah Project v. Mountain View–Los Altos Unified School District
This action seeks records under the California Public Records Act. The organization alleges the district failed to produce requested documents relating to educational programming. The complaint requests court-ordered disclosure and statutory remedies.
California — State Litigation | 2023/2024
Deborah Project v. Hayward Unified School District
The organization filed a public-records lawsuit seeking disclosure of educational materials. The district ultimately produced records and paid legal fees and costs. The matter has concluded.
California — State Court (2023–2024)
University/Faculty Cases
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia v. Keziah Ridgeway
The Deborah Project represented a community organization in proceedings concerning alleged antisemitic conduct by a public-school teacher. The matter involved professional conduct and public communications affecting students and parents. Administrative review resulted in disciplinary consequences.
Pennsylvania — Administrative Proceedings (2024)
Jews at Haverford v. Corporation of Haverford College
Students and campus organizations allege that the college permitted a hostile environment for Jewish students following campus protests and related incidents. The complaint asserts violations of federal nondiscrimination requirements for educational institutions. Plaintiffs seek institutional policy changes and injunctive relief.
Pennsylvania — U.S. District Court (Filed May 13, 2024)
Fiss v. California College of the Arts
Karen Fiss, a highly credentialed art historian, has sued California College of the Arts—the college where she is a tenured professor—for its maintenance of an antisemitic hostile environment, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In her case filed in federal court in San Francisco, Fiss alleges that at CCA, public expression of the Jewish commitment to Israel is met with disciplinary sanctions, while public calls for the death of Israeli Jews is publicly lauded by department chairs, professors, administrators and students, and officially defended as an exercise of academic freedom. Motion to Dismiss and its Opposition are fully briefed. The Judge DENIED CCA's Motion to Dismiss our Title VII claim of discrimination against CCA, and also DENIED CCA's Motion to Strike "Scandalous Material" from our brief. We just filed an Amended Complaint on 4 Feb. 2025.
California — U.S. District Court (2024–present)
Bronner v. American Studies Association
Professors challenge an academic association’s boycott resolution and related governance actions. The case concerns organizational governance and alleged discriminatory treatment of members. The litigation is currently on appeal.
Washington, D.C. — Appellate Proceedings (Ongoing)
Individual Teacher v. Major Urban School District
The Deborah Project represents an educator facing disciplinary proceedings relating to alleged disclosure of student information. The matter involves employment procedures and professional standards review.
Washington, D.C. — Appellate Proceedings (Ongoing)
Government and Public Records
Siegel v. Aziz
The complaint challenged a school board official’s classroom political advocacy and public conduct toward Jewish families. The matter proceeded through state ethics review and resulted in sanctions.
New Jersey — School Ethics Proceedings (2024–2025)
The Deborah Project v. University of California, Davis
The organization seeks disclosure of university records relating to campus incidents and administrative response. The case asserts statutory rights of public access to government documents. The requested materials were also submitted to federal authorities for review. The requests relate to a series of antisemitic incidents at the University, which are also the subject of submissions TDP has made to the Antisemitism Task Force at the United States Department of Justice.
California - Public Records Act Litigation (2025)