California State University has settled a lawsuit with its faculty union that restricts the university from divulging personal information to federal agencies investigating antisemitism on campus without the employee’s knowledge, union leaders said.
The settlement requires CSU to notify employees “as soon as reasonably practicable” before complying with any subpoena for personal information, unless the notification would be against the law, according to a California Faculty Assn. statement released Wednesday.
This personal information includes names, Social Security numbers, physical descriptions, addresses and any other identifying information, the faculty union said.
The union lawsuit stems from an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into employee complaints of campus antisemitism at CSU, part of the Trump administration’s broader incursions into higher education. The commission, which has subpoena power, sought a large-scale trove of information for every employee at Cal State L.A.
“We celebrate this settlement as a win that will help prevent workers from being caught off guard by the CSU handing over personal information to federal agencies without the knowledge of the faculty impacted,” the statement said.
CSU said in a statement that “both parties have a mutual interest in safeguarding employees’ personal information and providing timely information to those most impacted … We believe this agreement successfully accomplishes both.”
The EEOC had been investigating Cal State L.A. — the only campus identified in the investigation — since demonstrators erected a pro-Palestinian encampment in spring 2024 as part of a larger wave of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. The protest at Cal State L.A. escalated after a student services building on the campus was vandalized in June of that year.
The California Faculty Assn. filed the suit in October in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing state constitution-guaranteed rights to privacy and the California Information Practices Act — a piece of legislation that governs the disclosure of personal information by state agencies.
Additional CSU unions joined in the lawsuit , including United Auto Workers Local 4213, which represents academic student workers, and Teamsters Local 2010, representing skilled trade employees.
It is not unusual for the EEOC to request personal employee information during investigations, law experts told The Times last year. Although the association did not seek to challenge the subpoena process outright, it took issue with the fact that the Trump administration would have access to personal faculty data.
The faculty union said in the statement that “in the next coming weeks,” they would seek a preliminary injunction prohibiting any further disclosures by CSU of faculty members’ personal information.
“We continue to demand that the CSU administration protect its workers and their academic freedom, as well as fulfill its commitment to equity,” the statement from the association read. “We will keep fighting for our members’ livelihoods, freedoms, and privacy.”
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