The California Faculty Association (CFA) filed a lawsuit last month against the California State University system (CSU) over the disclosure of staff members’ personal information to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC was alerted in January of alleged anti-Semitism at CSU, Los Angeles, and subpoenaed the university in September. According to a statement from CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia, the EEOC contacted faculty and staff across the CSU system, asking about their experiences on campus, with a focus on anti-Semitism.
As part of the investigation, the EEOC obtained the personal information of CSU LA faculty members, including personal phone numbers and email addresses.
The CFA originally sought a restraining order to prevent the CSU Board of Trustees from disclosing CSU LA faculty’s personal information to the EEOC. However, the CFA was later informed by the CSU that the information had already been shared without prior notice.
Consequently, the CFA instead filed a lawsuit against the CSU Board of Trustees on Oct. 10.
“CSU’s recent disclosure… violated Article I, section 1 of the California Constitution and California’s Information Practices Act,” the CFA’s Oct. 10 statement read, “CFA plans to seek a preliminary injunction prohibiting CSU’s further disclosure of CFA members’ personal information in the coming weeks.
UAW 4123, a union of over 10,000 academic student workers across all CSU campuses, recently joined the CFA in their lawsuit. “Higher education, immigrants, LGBTQIA folks, and workers are under direct attacks by the Trump Administration, and we must demand that our university administration protect our community, including the workers that make CSU run,” said UAW 4123 president Lark Winner in a statement.
After observing what happened at CSU LA, some faculty at CSU East Bay are concerned about being subjected to the same intimidation, as well as the idea of the CSU system disclosing personal information to the federal government without some sort of pushback.
Chancellor Garcia denied accusations that personal information of all CSU employees systemwide was disclosed, reaffirming that CSU LA was solely affected by the subpoena. Nonetheless, concern still remains.
“This charge [anti-Semitism complaint] has been leveled at dozens of universities,” said James Murray, president of CSU East Bay’s CFA chapter. “I think most of us see it as a transparent pretext to intimidate faculty from speaking out mainly against the war in Gaza,” Murray added.
Murray continued, “All of our faculty is opposed to anti-Semitism. Some of our academics discuss the war in Gaza and the killing of civilians, and we will support our faculty’s academic freedom to speak how they wish about things they understand.”
Some faculty with connections to federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, expressed additional concern about potentially losing support from the federal government if their information were to be disclosed.
Murray personally hopes the lawsuit will lead to more transparency and engagement between the CFA and CSU Board of Trustees, if a similar situation were to happen again.
“I don’t think there is any clear remedy. I think the only remedy would be to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Murray said.
In a statement issued Sept. 26, Chancellor Garcia reaffirmed that the CSU is cooperating with the EEOC in their investigation, and that the CSU is committed to promoting a non-discriminatory environment.
In a later statement emailed to CSU employees, Garcia emphasized that if a CSU employee were to be contacted by the EEOC, their participation in the investigation is voluntary.
Murray said he understands Chancellor Garcia’s position, but believes the best course of action would be to, “establish a procedure by which the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Garcia would respond to the subpoena in cooperation with their faculty and their legal representation.”
CFA members plan to speak at a public hearing held during the CSU Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Nov. 18, where they will directly raise their concerns about the lawsuit and their freedoms.
