Overview

• Dr. Yael Nativ filed a civil suit Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court, represented by the Louis D. Brandeis Center and Olivier & Schreiber PC.
• UC Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination concluded after a months-long inquiry in 2024 that Nativ was discriminated against based on national origin.
• The complaint cites a Nov. 18, 2023 message from department chair SanSan Kwan saying campus was “very hot” and many graduate students were angry, which the Helen Diller Institute’s executive director understood as a rejection because Nativ is Israeli.
• Nativ taught at Berkeley in 2022 and was invited in July 2023 by the Helen Diller Institute to apply to teach again in the 2024–25 academic year.
• The suit seeks damages and an injunction barring such discrimination and alleges Berkeley has not offered a concrete remedy, while a university spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters.