A federal judge has ordered the University of Pennsylvania to turn over records identifying Jewish employees to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as part of the agency’s investigation into alleged antisemitic discrimination on campus. U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert largely enforced an EEOC administrative subpoena but carved out privacy protections and exemptions, setting a May 1 deadline for compliance.
Pappert said employees may decline to speak with EEOC investigators, but the agency must have the chance to contact them directly to determine whether they have evidence of discrimination. He also limited the subpoena so that Penn does not have to disclose any individual’s affiliation with a specific Jewish-related organization. In addition, the judge exempted three Jewish-affiliated campus groups from the order: MEOR, Penn Hillel and the Chabad Lubavitch House.
Those groups had filed declarations asserting legal and financial separation from the university. In filings, Chabad leader Rabbi Menachem Schmidt warned that forced disclosure of people who use Chabad’s services would harm the organization’s work and the privacy of its participants.
Penn responded by reiterating its commitment to addressing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, saying it has taken multiple steps to prevent and respond to troubling incidents. The university said it plans to appeal and expressed continued concerns about privacy and First Amendment implications, noting that it does not maintain employee lists by religion.
Judge Pappert criticized comparisons made by Penn and others that likened the EEOC’s request to Nazi-era practices, calling those analogies unfortunate and inappropriate. He observed that challengers were primarily focused on preventing the linkage of employees to particular Jewish groups, and noted the EEOC had dropped any attempt to obtain specific affiliations with campus Jewish organizations.
The EEOC launched its inquiry after a series of antisemitic incidents on and around Penn’s campus. Reported incidents include shouted antisemitic obscenities, property damage at a Jewish student life center, a swastika painted on an academic building and hateful graffiti near a fraternity. The agency has also reviewed conduct tied to Gaza war protests and the university’s responses to those events.
In a November court filing, the EEOC said Penn’s workplace environment was rife with antisemitism and argued that identifying witnesses and possible victims is essential to evaluating whether the workplace was both objectively and subjectively hostile. The judge’s order allows the agency to proceed with outreach while preserving certain privacy safeguards and narrow exemptions.