WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – The Louis D. Brandeis Center Coalition to Combat Antisemitism, Inc. filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the National Education Association (NEA), asserting that the nation’s largest union of over 3 million members has subjected Jewish members to discriminatory practices in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At a time when antisemitism in schools has reached an all-time high, the charge explains that the NEA has perpetuated hostile environments for Jewish members in the union, in the NEA’s state and local affiliates, and in the workplace, resulting in the spread of antisemitism throughout K-12 public schools. The Brandeis Center urges the EEOC to investigate these practices, hold the NEA accountable, and enact corrective action to ensure equal treatment and a non-discriminatory environment for all NEA members.
According to the complaint, the NEA’s discriminatory policies have materially limited the ability of Jewish members to fully participate in the NEA and has denied them opportunities for leadership, mentorship, governance, and training. The NEA’s written policies require the use of unlawful racial and ethnic classifications and preferences to exclude members, and as many Jewish members do not fit into one of the NEA’s preferred minority categories – the NEA classifies them as “white” – they are excluded from governance positions and deprived of other NEA benefits.
The NEA policies also require its state and local affiliates to allocate benefits to their members based on the same racial and ethnic classifications, and the NEA’s use of race and ethnicity in decision-making contributes to the hostile environment faced by its Jewish members.
The NEA’s policies allow and encourage discrimination against Jewish NEA members and erase Jewish members’ identity and shared ancestry, leading to Jewish NEA members being harassed and intimidated by other members in the union. The policies’ promotion and tolerance of antisemitism contribute to the spread of false narratives and antisemitic tropes throughout the public education system, thus harming Jewish children and teachers.
The charge documents several incidents of antisemitic discrimination, harassment, and intimidation at the NEA’s 2025 Representative Assembly (RA):
- Jewish delegates were physically surrounded and shouted at by anti-Israel advocates.
- When a Jewish delegate at the RA referenced the murder of an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor in the Boulder, Colorado antisemitic attack, her comment was met with clapping and laughter by other delegates.
- Anti-Israel delegates at the RA physically intimidated and disrupted the Jewish Affairs Caucus when the Executive Chair tried to speak to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Caucus.
- The NEA removed metal detectors and reduced security at the event despite reports by Jewish members of intimidation and harassment and a realistic fear of violence.
The NEA took other recent actions that contribute to the hostile environment against Jewish members:
- The NEA’s handbook removed Jews as the primary victims of the Holocaust.
- The NEA distributed a map to all members that erased the State of Israel, instead labeling the entire territory as “Palestine.”
Despite repeated notice, the NEA has failed to take action to address the harassment and discrimination against its Jewish members.
The exclusion, intimidation of Jewish members and erasure of Jewish identity has caused Jewish educators to leave their unions and places of employment. In response, this charge asks the EEOC to investigate the practices, require the NEA to cease and desist from unlawful conduct, and to implement immediate corrective measures which allow all members of the NEA to fully participate without being subjected to harassment or discrimination.
“The NEA’s conduct is both completely illegal and morally unjustifiable. All educators, regardless of their ethnicity, deserve a safe workplace and support from the people whose job it is to protect them. In this case, the hostile, antisemitic environment propagated by the NEA is not confined to the union; it touches every school and every classroom in which an NEA member works,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman and CEO of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education who ran the Office of Civil Rights during two administrations. “This is exactly the type of discrimination against which Title VII was designed to protect. And by fighting to protect our NEA members from bigotry, we’re also fighting to protect our children from an environment that allows discrimination and antisemitic tropes. Unions are supposed to protect their members’ rights. The NEA is actually violating them.”
The Brandeis Center has helped Jews change discriminatory practices at Microsoft and the New York Legal Aid Group’s union. They have also secured major settlements with UC Berkeley, Pomona College, the Nysmith School, and the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. One such settlement was the precedent-setting agreements with Harvard University, leading to Harvard implementing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism, and recognizing the centrality of Zionism to Jewish identity. In addition, the Brandeis Center reached a landmark agreement with Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s attempt to boycott Israel, marking one of the largest defeats for the BDS movement.
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Preceding provided by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law