Sugar Law Center and the ADC file Suit to Stop the Unconstitutional Firings & Lifetime Bans of Employment for Workers at the University of Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

News from the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice 

May 1, 2025 

Contacts:

Liz Jacob, ljacob@sugarlaw.org, (313) 993-4505 ext. 7

John Philo, jphilo@sugarlaw.org, (313) 993-4505 ext. 3 

ON INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’S DAY, UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES SUE THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FOR WRONGFUL TERMINATION AND BLACKLISTING BECAUSE THEY EXPRESSED PRO-PALESTINE SPEECH 

One full-time employee and seven student employees were terminated by the University of Michigan solely for attending pro-Palestine protests on non-work time and outside of their jobs. 

ANN ARBOR – On May Day, The Sugar Law Center and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee filed a federal lawsuit to protect the Constitutional and civil rights of workers whom the University of Michigan terminated and forever barred from future employment because they participated in pro-Palestine protests on the University’s campus. After attending a peaceful on-campus sit-in to call for the University’s divestment from Israel or participating in an impromptu demonstration on public sidewalks to call on Regents to meet with students and support divestment, workers were targeted by the University with adverse employment actions.

 After speaking out in support of Palestinian human rights, eight workers – one full-time employee and seven student workers – were fired from their employment and permanently blacklisted from future employment for the entire University of Michigan system. The lawsuit alleges that the University’s actions violate the student workers’ First Amendment right to Free Speech and their Fourteenth Amendment right to Due Process. Further, the lawsuit states that these adverse employment actions are yet another attempt from the University of Michigan to unconstitutionally punish pro-Palestine protesters at the Ann Arbor campus.  

“On May 3rd, 2024, I joined hands with members of the campus community outside the University of Michigan Art Museum to call on the regents to speak with us about divesting from israel’s genocide on Gaza. After the Regents refused to address the students and community members of the University, University Police pepper sprayed and assaulted us. Then, eleven months later, I and other workers were fired from our university employment and blacklisted as punishment for calling for divestment,” said Eaman Ali, a plaintiff and undergraduate student at University of Michigan. “The University of Michigan Regents are attacking our right to free speech so they can avoid accountability for their complicity in genocide. Despite their attempts to punish workers and paint the pro-Palestine movement as violent, we know that the real violence is the university’s insistence on funding the mass murder of Palestinians.”

“Sadly, the University of Michigan is trying to resurrect an old but previously discarded tactic of firing and blacklisting workers whose viewpoints they don’t agree with. By all accounts, each of our clients was a dedicated employee performing necessary work for the University” said John Philo, Executive and Legal Director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. “University officials and Michigan’s Attorney General have taken many seemingly coordinated actions to undermine the free speech of pro-Palestine protesters on campus. It is critical that we fight back against these attacks on our Freedom of Speech. The University’s shameful and unconstitutional attempts to silence viewpoints by firing student workers and forever barring them from any future employment must be reversed.”  

“There is a nationwide assault on freedom of expression if you support the rights of the Palestinian people. The contempt for the constitutional rights of pro-Palestine advocates should be offensive to anyone who values their right to speak” said Chris Godshall-Bennett, National Legal Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “The government, whether federal, state, or a public university, cannot punish you because they don’t agree with you, even if you work for them. We will not cede these rights and those who violate them will be held to account.”

"By firing workers as a means to suppress speech it disagrees with, the University of Michigan violates their rights both as citizens and as employees," said American Federal of Teachers- Michigan President Terrence Martin. "The Michigan labor movement stands with all workers on campus. We will always fight to uphold free speech and conduct that is protected by the First Amendment, and we're especially alarmed that the University is prepared to violate state labor law by refusing to bargain the termination of a member of our union."

"The University of Michigan claims to value activism, political engagement, and dissent. But when that free speech addresses the genocide in Palestine, the University is quick to rewrite its rules," said attorney Ezra Ritchin. "Much like the Trump administration, the University policed, punished, fired, and blacklisted those who bravely spoke out in support of Palestinian life and freedom.”

Read the full complaint 

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The Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys John Philo, Liz Jacob, and Tony Paris at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Chris Godshall-Bennett at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and attorney Ezra Ritchin. 

About the Sugar Law Center: The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice is a national non-profit, public-interest law center. Sugar Law Center provides legal advocacy, representation, education and technical support to workers and communities seeking systemic change toward economic and social justice. For more information on the Sugar Law Center, visit www.sugarlaw.org. 

About the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (“ADC”) is a civil rights organization committed to defending the rights of people of Arab descent and promoting their rich cultural heritage. ADC was founded by former U.S. Senator James Abourezk in 1980. Today, ADC is the largest Arab American grassroots organization in the U.S. For more information about ADC, visit adc.org 

State AG Brings in FBI to Target Student Protestors

See coverage of our work in support the first amendment rights of student protestors who have been targeted by the State AG because of their viewpoints favoring divestment from Israel at the University of Michigan, a stop to the genocide in Gaza, and advocating for Palestinian human rights.

CNN, The students that were targeted appear to be those that UM officials believe are most active in on-campus protests - protests that have been loud at times…but which in no way can be characterized as violent or causing significant vandalism,” [John] Philo [from the Sugar Law Center] said. “Other than a shared viewpoint concerning Palestine, a real question exists as to why student campus protestors are being targeted or is that the point - because they are expressing that viewpoint on UM’s campus.”

Michigan Public Radio, “Liz Jacob, a staff attorney at Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, represents the Tahrir Coalition alongside other pro-Palestinian advocacy groups at U of M. She said she got some panicked phone calls Wednesday morning at about 7 a.m. from activists who were woken up by officers at their doorstep.”

Detroit Free Press, "Everyone who was raided has taken part in protest and has some relationship to the University of Michigan," said Liz Jacob, an attorney with the Sugar Law Center in Detroit, which is representing several protesters who say they've been effectively banned from campus. "We are totally convinced that, but for their viewpoints, these students would not have been targeted."

MetroTimes, “John Philo, an attorney with the Sugar Law Center, says the raids were “very clearly intended to influence the content of debate on the University of Michigan campus,” noting that the students targeted were academically successful and had no criminal histories.”

Common Dreams, “Federal and local law enforcement officers smashed their way into the Michigan homes of pro-Palestine student organizers on Wednesday in what the state attorney general's office said was a vandalism probe—but critics called an attack on dissent against Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza"

Fox 2, "There’s no question it took everybody by surprise, the scale of it took people by surprise," said John Philo, an attorney. "They’ve clearly been following the students for a period of time." He says each of the raids conducted targeted the homes of local supporters who had protested at the University of Michigan … "That is breathtaking, shocking and appalling, that acts of vandalism at least on the scale that’s occured at the University of Michigan campus, are no more than misdemeanors, are drawing out federal police, the state attorney general is coordinating with Trump’s administration's FBI, the state troopers are there, for something they’re [the State AG] calling acts of vandalism."

Mich. Regulators Won't Stop DTE Practices That Punish Low Income Persons

“Advocates sought to restrict the practice, with some arguing it preyed on low-income customers, forcing them to ferry around large amounts of cash and go out of their way to stay current on electric bills.”

“I’ve seen firsthand how the requirement to pay DTE Energy bills in cash adds so much stress and burden on the low-income clients that I serve,” said Liz Jacob, a staff attorney with the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit, who has worked with those facing the cash-only mandate.”

See MLive.com article by Lucas Smolcic Larson here.

Detroit Concrete Crusher Faces New Dust Control Rules

Liz Jacob, a staff attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Social and Economic Justice, has been advocating for residents throughout the court battle. She said the agreement raises big concerns. 

“There isn’t an actual ability for the community to play a role in accountability, and all of the mitigation measures outlined in the consent agreement only go until the end of the spring,” said Jacob. “What happens after that point is a big open question. What’s the monitoring going to look like?” 

“There’s no community voice, no community accountability, no mitigation for folks who are already experiencing impact,” she added.“There’s no restitution for folks who are experiencing impacts.”

See Planet Detroit article by Jena Brooker of BridgeDetroit here.

Community Benefits Process Should Empower Residents

Outlier Media’s Patrick Dunn published a piece today on a report calling for the strengthening of Detroit’s community benefits ordinance.

“Two of the report’s recommendations relate to strengthening community members’ voices on neighborhood advisory councils (NACs), the nine-member bodies that negotiate with developers during the community benefits process.

The report calls for increasing the number of NAC members selected by neighborhood residents to five — up from two.

“We really need to make sure that we have more folks who can speak to their lived experience, bring their family and actual community into the room, and not just assume that two people can speak for a whole neighborhood,” said Liz Jacob, a staff attorney at the Detroit-based Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice.”

See Outlier Media article by Patrick Dunn here.

Zou et. al. v. Santa J. Ono, et. al.

“The ACLU of Michigan and the Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the University of Michigan, alleging the school has unconstitutionally banned protesters from its Ann Arbor campus in an effort to silence dissent. …

Liz Jacob, an attorney with the Sugar Law Center, said UM is using trespass bans “to target, attack, and silence the speech of protesters.”

“The threat of effectively being barred from classes, suspended from the university, kept from working on campus or even walking the grounds constitutes an extreme attempt to quell free speech and due process rights that are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments,” Jacob said. “We believe that it is critical to bring forward this lawsuit today to put an end to the University of Michigan’s unconstitutional policies, which wrongly deny people their rights to free speech and due process.” Steve Neavling at the Detroit Metro Times

See also New Lawsuit Claims U-M violated protestors constitutional rights. Detroit Free Press.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

Hilgart-Griff et. al. v. UM Regents et. al.

See coverage of our case filed with co-counsel at CAIR-Michigan, NLG Michigan & Detroit Chapter, Law Offices of Holland Locklear and attorneys Stacie McNulty, Huwaida Arraf, Sara Dagher, and Ezra Ritchin.

MetroTimes, Pro-Palestinian students, alumni sue University of Michigan over alleged targeting of protesters, by Steve Neavling

Detroit Free Press, U-M banned peaceful Gaza demonstrators from campus jobs, buildings, lawsuit says, by Violet Ikonomova

Detroit News, Pro-Palestine students sue University of Michigan, allege discrimination, by Kara Berg

The Michigan Daily, Pro-Palestine activists file lawsuit against UMich over alleged violations of free speech, by Marissa Corsi and Emma Spring

See Plaintiffs’ Complaint here.

Pro-Palestine Students, Alumni, and Students For Justice In Palestine Chapter, Sue the University of Michigan For Violating Free Speech, Due Process, and Equal Protection Rights

Students, alum, and one student organization allege that the University of Michigan has a pattern and practice of violating the Constitutional and civil rights of pro-Palestine protesters. 

ANN ARBOR – Today, students and alumni as representatives of a class of similarly situated persons and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (“SAFE”), a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, at the University of Michigan filed suit against the Board of Regents, President Ono, and Vice President of Student Life Martino Harmon for violating pro-Palestine student protesters’ Constitutional rights to free speech, expression, due process, and equal protection. Plaintiffs also name third-party consultants Omar Torres of Grand River Strategies and Stephanie Jackson of InCompliance aka Beyond Consulting as Defendants. The University of Michigan has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire these consultants to initiate retaliatory disciplinary proceedings against pro-Palestine student protesters and the only undergraduate organization dedicated to fighting for Palestinian liberation for over 20 years. 

For decades, members of the University of Michigan community have raised their voices and advocated, on campus, at demonstrations, rallies, teach-ins, marches, strikes, sit-ins, pickets, and educational events for many important social and political issues. Dating back to the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War era, the University maintained a consistent policy of not imposing disciplinary proceedings or suspensions on students and student groups who engage in peaceful protest.

While the manner of expressing speech has not changed, the University’s response to pro-Palestine speech has dramatically changed. The University of Michigan has departed from its own celebration of on-campus protest to instead attack, repress, and punish student protesters expressing their support for Palestinian human rights and calling on the University to divest over $6 Billion implicated in apartheid and the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Plaintiffs allege that the University is taking unprecedented action to selectively target students and the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter with disciplinary procedures to punish protesters for their advocacy in a naked attempt to undermine the student movement for Palestine by creating a culture of fear, repression, and silence on campus.

“The egregious Constitutional violations outlined in this suit are merely a fraction of the repression the University of Michigan has subjected student activists like us to because of our assertion that the University should not financially invest in, and materially benefit from, the genocide of the Palestinian people,” said Nora Hilgart-Griff, a Graduate Student in the University of Michigan School of Social Work. “That the University has departed from its longstanding allowance of student protest–even protest that may be critical of University policies or leadership–for this issue alone is evidence of the way the Palestinian people are systematically and intentionally dehumanized by the countries who fund and enable their dispossession and deaths.” 

“In the last 400 days of relentless genocide, we have witnessed massacre after massacre – and in response, globally, the people have united in support of the struggle for Palestinian liberation. SAFE is one small part of this international mass movement, but is nowhere near the entire movement demanding divestment” said Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, an SJP chapter that has existed on the University’s campus for 22 years. “As long as the struggle continues in Gaza, it will continue globally, on our campus, and in our streets. Our movement has only grown stronger in the face of repression and targeted attacks – the demand for divestment and accountability is larger than an organization or a small group of students, it is a people’s movement made up of students, staff, faculty, and our community members – and we will be victorious. In standing up for our collective right to free speech, protest, and due process, we are ensuring that the fight for Palestine will continue until liberation and return.”

“For the past year the University of Michigan has overreached to specifically target students who advocate for divestment and the human rights of Palestinian people. The University is breaking from its own long-standing traditions of honoring student protest and is violating the United States Constitution by weaponizing student and student organization disciplinary processes to punish pro-Palestine protesters into silence and to chill, and repress speech in support of Palestinian causes on campus,” said John Philo, Executive and Legal Director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. “The University of Michigan’s actions against pro-Palestine protesters have put a very real asterisk on the free speech and due process rights of students at the University. It is long past time for the University to stop their relentless attacks on speech in support of Palestine. We are committed to defend student’s rights to free speech and protest on the full range of issues arising from the invasion of Gaza and the atrocities that are being witnessed.” 

“Since October 7, 2023, students and student organizations advocating for an end to the genocide in Gaza and calling for University of Michigan to divest from companies complicit in the funding of the genocide have faced an unprecedent effort by the University to suppress their speech and punish them for their political viewpoint.”  Said Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Staff Attorney, Amy V. Doukoure. “This lawsuit is aimed at forcing University of Michigan to live up to their purported commitment to free speech as a ‘bedrock principle of the university.’ In the lawsuit we are asking that the court hold accountable the University, President Ono, and all others who acted to silence political speech based on its viewpoint in violation  of  the Constitutional protections afforded to all students and student organizations.”

“The plaintiffs in this case were peacefully protesting just as thousands of students before them have since the 1960’s. Yet, unlike those before them, the plaintiffs here have been systematically targeted and are being punished for alleged acts of “violence,” not for engaging in anything that could remotely be defined as violent, but because of their advocacy for the rights of Palestinian people and against the genocidal practices of the State of Israel with financial support from the United States,” said Julie Hurwitz, Attorney on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild, and partner in Goodman, Hurwitz & James, “The essence of any society that purports to believe in democracy must, at a minimum, live up to the fundamental right to “peaceably … assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,”  [1st Amend.] The University defendants must be held accountable for their unconstitutional assault not just on the plaintiffs in this case but on our democratic principles.”


The Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys John Philo, Liz Jacob, and Tony Paris from the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice; Amy Doukoure from theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan, the Detroit-Michigan National Lawyers Guild as represented by Julie Hurwitz, Dayja Tillman, and Matthew Erard from  Goodman, Hurwitz & James P.C.; Holland Locklear from the Law Offices of Holland Locklear PLLC,  and attorneys Stacie McNulty, Huwaida Arraf, Sara Dagher, and Ezra Ritchin.

A copy of the complaint can be obtained here.