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CENTER FOR LAW & JUSTICE
Office for Civil Rights Reopens ZOA’s Title VI Case
Against Rutgers – In Landmark Decision, OCR Will
Now Use State Department’s Accurate Anti-Semitism
Definition to Assess Motive
In a long-awaited decision, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights
(“OCR”) reopened the ZOA’s 2011 case against New Jersey’s Rutgers University, which
alleged that Jewish students were subjected to a hostile campus environment in violation
of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The August 24, 2018 decision was groundbreaking. In
its letter to the ZOA, OCR declared that in assessing evidence of whether students were
discriminated against based on their actual or perceived Jewish ancestry or ethnicity, OCR
will now use the U.S. State Department’s working definition of anti-Semitism.
This definition is excellent. It accurately reflects the many ways in which anti-Semitism
is expressed today and recognizes that Jew-hatred can be camouflaged as anti-Israel or
anti-Zionism.
OCR informed the ZOA that in the Rutgers case, it is not only reassessing the evidence in
the record, but it is also going to determine whether a hostile environment for Jewish students
currently exists at Rutgers. In response, ZOA provided information to OCR that should be
useful in making that determination and also assured OCR of its continued cooperation.
The ZOA is extremely proud that our work continues to lead to important governmental
decisions affording stronger protections to Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment and
discrimination. It was also the ZOA’s work that led to OCR’s momentous decision in 2010 to
reinterpret Title VI to protect Jewish students.
The ZOA is extremely proud that our work continues to lead to important
governmental decisions affording stronger protections to Jewish students
from anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination.
After ZOA Intervenes, Williams Sonoma Finally Addresses
Anti-Semitism
A Jewish employee at a Williams Sonoma store in Manhattan was subjected to anti-Semitic
threats, harassment and abuse by a customer. The employee, Devra Block, made repeated efforts
to get the company to take corrective measures. But it was not until she enlisted the ZOA’s
help that Williams Sonoma finally effectively addressed the problem.
Last May, Ms. Block – who wears a Star of David necklace – was assisting a customer who
repeatedly harassed her about her Jewish identity and made false and hateful accusations about
Jews generally. In front of several witnesses, the customer cursed and shouted at Ms. Block,
using such words as “I hate you. You f—king Jew. I hope you die.”
After Williams Sonoma management learned about what Ms. Block endured, not a single
company official followed up or informed her of the remedial steps that the company planned
to take. Ms. Block’s reasonable request that Williams Sonoma notify the anti-Semitic customer,
Susan B. Tuchman, Esq.
Director, Center for Law
& Justice