Lawsuit: UC Berkeley Union Targeted Israeli Jews for discrimination, harassment

UAW’s anti-Israel activism created hostile work environment, violated Civil Rights Act, postdoc alleges

January 27, 2025, Berkeley, Ca.—Karin Yaniv, an Israeli postdoc at UC Berkeley, alleges that her graduate student union has created an atmosphere of pervasive hostility and relentless abuse targeting Israeli Jews it represents. She has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking to end the United Auto Workers-affiliated union’s anti-Semitic discrimination against her and other Jews and to hold union officials accountable for the hostile work environment they have fostered on campus.

Yaniv’s complaint alleges that the union’s actions violated both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. It describes harrowing details of discriminatory behavior perpetrated by the UAW and/or its officials, including:

  • Making anti-Israel statements after the October 7 terror attacks against Israel
  • Encouraging union members to attend anti-Israel rallies and walkouts
  • Supporting an anti-Israel encampment by establishing a “union village” within it
  • Chanting anti-Semitic slogans at an anti-Israel rally
  • Sharing resources with pro-Palestine campus organizations with an anti-Israel agenda
  • Passing anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) resolutions
  • Creating an apparent “hitlist” of Jews and those with Jewish and Israeli ties on UC Berkeley’s Board of Regents
  • Ignoring union rules and procedures to advance an anti-Israel agenda
  • Segregating Jewish union members by withholding information and opportunities given to other union members
  • Permitting an Israeli union member whose relatives were kidnapped on October 7 to be mocked and insulted when she objected to the union’s anti-Israel agenda

According to the complaint, the union’s actions “fostered an atmosphere of hostility and terror for Israeli Jews, such as Yaniv, who felt ostracized, targeted, and unsafe.”

Yaniv, whose campus building was damaged by a firebomb set off by a pro-Palestine protestor, said UAW officials have created a “culture of anti-Semitism” on UC Berkeley’s campus:

“It was like a knife in the back of UC Berkeley’s Jewish community when, less than a week after the horror and death of October 7, the union issued a statement condemning Israel. Since that time, union officials have only twisted that knife by systematically discriminating against Jews, supporting the anti-Semitic BDS movement, and creating a hostile work environment for Israeli Jews on campus. I hope my lawsuit ends the union’s culture of anti-Semitism and holds accountable those responsible for it.”

Nathan McGrath, president and general counsel for the Fairness Center, said: “Our client alleges UAW officials knowingly and repeatedly discriminated against her based on her race, religion, and national origin, violating the Civil Rights Act and state law. She believes the union also violated its own rules by treating her as a second-class member and empowering other union members to harass Israeli Jews.”

According to the complaint, the UAW has also committed to pursue bargaining terms that would end programs and partnerships with even the smallest tie to Israel across the UC system, potentially limiting or ending the ability of Israeli Jews to complete their graduate studies. The union’s anti-Israel activism has caused other Israeli Jews to resign from the union for their own well-being and has made Yaniv believe she can no longer safely pursue her academic career in the U.S.

Yaniv’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks an injunction prohibiting the union from discriminating against Jews or Israelis, an order requiring the union to provide anti-discrimination training, damages, and other forms of relief.

BIO: Karin Yaniv (pronounced kuh-REEN yah-NEEV) is a microbiologist who studies how bacteria acquire resistance to antibiotics. She grew up in Israel and began her postdoctoral studies at UC Berkeley in 2022 after working with the Israeli health ministry on early detection of Covid-19. She was assisted in finding legal representation by the Israeli American Council’s SHIELD Support Center.

Yaniv and Fairness Center attorneys are available for comment. Please contact John Bouder at media@fairnesscenter.org or 844.293.1001 to schedule an interview.

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The Fairness Center is a nonprofit, public interest law firm offering free legal services to those hurt by public-sector union officials. For more information visit www.FairnessCenter.org.

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