Kasowitz law firm has submitted a revised lawsuit with additional plaintiffs and allegations of Columbia and Barnard's hostile anti-Semitic educational environment and serious civil rights violations.
Kasowitz Benson Torres has filed an amended complaint on behalf of 47 Jewish students, who will serve as plaintiffs, for Students Against Antisemitism, as well as the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) against Columbia University and Barnard College.
The complaint, over 200 pages long, includes 32 new plaintiffs and details fresh allegations of anti-Semitic behaviour on campus. It accuses Columbia of creating a hostile environment and targeting Jewish and Israeli students with harassment, threats, and intimidation, violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and introducing new claims under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Kasowitz site reports.
In a revised lawsuit submitted on June 17, 2024, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the plaintiffs have included fresh claims about Columbia University facilitating the occupation of its South Lawn by hundreds of individuals, including students and faculty members, leading to an escalation of harassment and mistreatment towards Jewish and Israeli students, along with promoting global violence against Jews and expressing anti-Semitic slogans and chants.
According to Kasowitz law firm site, The group from Kasowitz Benson Torres representing Columbia and Barnard students is headed by partners Marc E. Kasowitz, Daniel R. Benson, Mark P. Ressler, Andrew L. Schwartz, and Joshua E. Roberts.