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A Rutgers student is suing the university, claiming punishment for reporting antisemitism.
By Dion J. Pierre, Algemeiner
Rutgers University Law School student Yoel Ackerman has sued his school for allegedly violating Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, claiming that he faces expulsion for reporting antisemitic harassment and intimidation.
“This lawsuit arises out of attempts by Rutgers staff members and students to punish Mr. Ackerman after he complained about the circulation of antisemitic propaganda,” New Jersey-based law firm Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, which is representing Ackerman, said in a press release issued on Tuesday. “Shockingly Rutgers Law School brought charges against Mr. Ackerman for speaking out in response to this hateful rhetoric.”
According to court documents shared with The Algemeiner, Ackerman’s troubles began after Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, when he saw on social media that a fellow Rutgers Law student had shared on Instagram a video alleging that pro-Israel advocates promoted “lies” about the terrorist attack to gain sympathy and support for committing “atrocities” against Palestinians.
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip, invaded Israel on Oct. 7 and slaughtered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, injured thousands of others, and took about 240 hostages.
Ackerman brought the issue before the Rutgers Student Bar Association (SBA), a student government body of which Ackerman was a member. However, he was accused of racism and subjected on Oct. 26 to what the lawsuit describes as a three-hour “struggle session” in which his SBA law school colleagues pelted him with insults.
“During this meeting, several students whom Mr. Ackerman had never interacted with before testified against him,” said the complaint, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Essex County. “For example, law student JM, targeted, discriminated, bullied, harassed, and retaliated against Mr. Ackerman. She falsely accused Mr. Ackerman of threatening to dox her and other students — without any evidence. JM moved to impeach Ackerman from the SBA, and to intimidate Mr. Ackerman and other Jewish students.”
“The Rutgers SBA and JM were seeking to chill the speech of Ackerman — as a Jewish person,” the complaint continues. “The content and tone of the SBA hearing were designed or allowed to air antisemitic bias with the intent of discriminating, threatening, harassing, and bullying Jewish law students, including Mr. Ackerman.”
The complaint summarizes in detail Ackerman’s attempts to file formal complaints about the video and the treatment he received, focusing on the conduct of Katherine Perez, an assistant dean in the law school whom the suit names as a defendant. It charges that Perez never watched the video about which Ackerman complained and, in retaliation, charged him with defamation and disorderly conduct. Later, Perez told Ackerman that a complaint he had filed lacked merit and would not be investigated.
Ackerman’s attorneys said in a press release that he will on Thursday attend a final disciplinary hearing that will determine whether he is expelled from school.
“In sum, Rutgers plans to hold this ‘kangaroo court’ in which they refuse to permit Ackerman to be represented by counsel (who cannot speak or otherwise advocate on Mr. Ackerman’s behalf), and have failed to advise him of the witnesses who will testify against him, and which ostensibly will be presided over by the very person who initiated and brought the charges, against him,” the suit says.
The Algemeiner has reached out to Rutgers to confirm the details concerning the hearing on Thursday.
Ackerman additionally alleges the ordeal he experienced has caused medical complications, and he is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
“It is time to speak out,” Ackerman said on Tuesday during a press conference. “Just five days after the largest attack and attempt at genocide against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, one of my peers shared a video that was highly offensive and in my opinion antisemitic … What has resulted since is nothing more than an attempt by Rutgers and other students to silence my right to speak out against antisemitism. I will not be silent in the face of hatred towards Jews.”
In a statement to The Algemeiner on Wednesday, Rutgers Law School declined to comment on “pending litigation” but said that it “takes seriously any claims of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of bias.”
“Any such claims are investigated are reviewed, and where appropriate, remedial or disciplinary actions are taken,” the statement added.
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