Columbia Jewish Faculty File EEOC Claims Over $21 Million Settlement Fund

In the week ending June 3 2026, a group of Jewish faculty members at Columbia University submitted claims to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The filings invoke the $21 million fund created in a 2025 settlement between Columbia and the Trump administration, which was intended to compensate employees who experienced a hostile work environment linked to protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. Claimants argue that the hostility they faced stemmed from their support for Palestinian rights and from university actions that, in their view, equated Jewish identity with allegiance to the Israeli state.

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The settlement, described by the EEOC as the largest public settlement in nearly two decades, followed a months-long dispute after the October 7 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing campus protests. In addition to the $21 million fund, Columbia agreed to a $200 million fine and a series of corrective measures. Critics accused the university of “capitulating” to the administration’s demands.

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• Oct 7 2023 – Hamas attack on Israel triggers campus protests.

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• 2024 Apr – Approximately two dozen Jewish faculty sign a letter condemning Columbia’s response to the protests.

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• 2025 – Columbia reaches settlement with the Trump administration, establishing the $21 million fund.

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• June 2026 – EEOC claim deadline; Jewish faculty submit complaints.

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• Joseph Howley, classics professor, lead complainant.

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• Marianne Hirsch, scholar of antisemitism and daughter of Holocaust survivors.

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• EY Zipris, adjunct professor at Teachers College.

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• James Schamus, film producer and professor at the School of the Arts.

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• Columbia University administration and its antisemitism taskforce.

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• EEOC, the federal agency overseeing the claims.

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• $21 million allocated for eligible claimants.

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• $200 million fine imposed on Columbia as part of the settlement.

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• The EEOC characterized the settlement as the largest public one in almost twenty years.

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• Exact numbers of claimants were not disclosed; sources refer to “several” faculty members filing.

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Claimants reported being doxed, followed, spat on, and subjected to death threats. They recounted verbal attacks using terms such as “kapos,” “Nazis,” “Hamas sympathizers,” and “self-hating Jews.” Several described disciplinary investigations after mediating between protesters and university officials.

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The EEOC declined to detail evaluation criteria but described its response as “robust.” Columbia University did not provide comment when approached. The university’s antisemitism taskforce initially listed faculty as calling for “an end to the state of Israel,” later edited the report without issuing an apology; the original version continues to circulate.

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Faculty allege that Columbia’s settlement implicitly assumes all Jews support Israel, thereby “scapegoating” dissenting voices. They contend that suppressing pro-Palestinian speech in the name of Jewish safety creates a climate of “textbook antisemitism.”

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The EEOC’s notice frames alleged harassment as based on religion, race, or national origin, while claimants attribute it to political advocacy. The agency’s criteria for adjudicating the claims remain undisclosed, and Columbia’s lack of response leaves the university’s internal handling of the incidents unclear.

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The case tests the application of Title VII protections to speech-related workplace hostility and may set precedent for how universities address intersecting issues of free expression, donor influence, and anti-discrimination law.

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The EEOC will notify eligible claimants as it processes submissions. Potential payouts, legal challenges, and further university policy revisions are anticipated as the dispute proceeds.

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• “I no longer consider Columbia University a safe place to work for Jews who dare to dissent from the political agenda of its most ardently pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian donors and trustees,” — Joseph Howley, Classics Professor

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• “We spoke as Jews about the University and how we thought it should protect its interests; we were attacked as Jews, or as bad Jews, or as fake Jews, by people who carried the University’s authority or knew they had its implicit support,” — Joseph Howley, Classics Professor

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• “This singling Jews out for special treatment is dangerous and encourages antisemitism,” — Joseph Howley, Classics Professor

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• “My Jewishness demands that I honor my ancestors and the only way I know to do that is to oppose war, violence and injustice and fight for ‘never again for anyone’,” — Marianne Hirsch, Scholar of Antisemitism

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• “Had my profoundly observant parents voiced those same perspectives on Columbia’s campus today they would have been called antisemitic and pilloried for their beliefs, just as I have been for mine,” — EY Zipris, Adjunct Professor

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• “Some of us may take our settlement money and, say, donate it to the Friends of the [Israel Defense Forces], and others may use it towards a Florida timeshare,” — James Schamus, Film Producer and Professor

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