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Student Files Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Occidental College After College Censored Speech and Dissolved Student Government
LOS ANGELES, March 15, 2005鈥擳oday, former student Jason Antebi sued Occidental College in Los Angeles for millions of dollars for maliciously violating his basic rights and those of the entire student community. In spring 2004, Occidental administrators fired Antebi from his position as host of a popular student radio program and found him guilty of sexual harassment for satirical jokes he made on the air. Occidental then used the controversy as a pretext for dissolving the entire student government (of which Antebi was a vice president) and assuming control of nearly half a million dollars in funding from student fees. When the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (果冻传媒app官方) took up Antebi鈥檚 case, the college began an aggressive and far-reaching campaign of false accusations and misrepresentations to justify its actions.
鈥淥ccidental College is unmatched when it comes to administrative abuse of power,鈥 remarked David French, 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 president. 鈥淚ts unprecedented and shameful campaign against Jason Antebi was scandalous, and its lack of respect for students鈥 legally guaranteed right to free speech is disgraceful.鈥
The lawsuit filed today accuses Occidental of committing a variety of offenses against Antebi, the most obvious being the violation of his free speech rights under the constitutions of California and of the United States. While Occidental is a private college and would not ordinarily be obligated to the First Amendment, California鈥檚 鈥淟eonard Law鈥 grants students at private universities in that state the same free speech rights as their counterparts at public universities. Occidental College also promises to respect students鈥 freedom of speech and can be held accountable for flagrantly violating its own policies.
FIRE first wrote Occidental President Ted Mitchell on March 30, 2004, to condemn the college鈥檚 actions, which included firing Antebi and charging him with sexual harassment for bawdy jokes on his radio show after student government rivals filed complaints. FIREsoon received a response from Occidental General Counsel Sandra Cooper that distorted facts and implied, without any evidence, that Antebi had committed a variety of serious offenses including vandalizing cars and making harassing phone calls. On May 6, 2004, FIREresponded with a detailed 28-page refutation of Cooper鈥檚 claims. The ACLU of Southern California also weighed in on Antebi鈥檚 side, prompting Cooper to claim, absurdly, that the ACLU did not understand its own policies. FIREthen informed Occidental鈥檚 board of trustees of the situation, but received no response.
Antebi鈥檚 suit against Occidental was brought by Richard Lloyd Sherman and Craig Englander, partners at Sherman & Nathanson, a law firm in Beverly Hills, California. The complaint, filed in California Superior Court, asks for millions of dollars in damages as well as declaratory relief that would strike down the Occidental policies that allowed Antebi to be found guilty of sexual harassment for his on-air comments.
The complaint explains that Occidental officials 鈥渂latantly misrepresented the facts of Plaintiff鈥檚 situation, in a knowing and malicious attempt to prevent civil liberties groups and other potential supporters from coming to his defense. The College鈥檚 Dean of 果冻传媒app官方, General Counsel and other university officials painted Plaintiff as a racist, criminal, drug pusher, advocate of violence, unethical student representative, and as a person responsible for an atmosphere of terror on campus in which women were 鈥榰nable to concentrate, sleep, or even walk across campus without fear.鈥欌
To defend the rights of Jason Antebi, FIREhelped assemble an impressive coalition of organizations to condemn Occidental鈥檚 actions including the ACLU of Southern California, FIRE for Academic Freedom, PEN USA, and the Student Press Law Center.
鈥淲hile we seriously doubt that Jason would have been allowed to graduate without 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 aid, Occidental has yet to repudiate its actions and its campaign of deception,鈥 remarked FIREDirector of Legal and Public Advocacy Greg Lukianoff. 鈥淣o student should be put through what he has had to suffer鈥攁nd no student government should be dissolved on the pretense of 鈥榦ffensive鈥 speech. With this lawsuit, we hope that college administrators and trustees at Occidental and across the nation will realize that they will be held accountable for their employees鈥 abuses of power.鈥
FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation鈥檚 colleges and universities. 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 efforts to preserve liberty at Occidental College and on campuses across America can be viewed at thefire.org.
CONTACT:
Greg Lukianoff, Director of Legal and Public Advocacy, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; greg@thefire.org
David French, President, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; david.french@thefire.org
Richard Lloyd Sherman, Attorney, Sherman & Nathanson: 310-246-0321; rsherman@snmlaw.com
Elizabeth Brennan, ACLU of Southern California: 213-977-9500 x252; ebrennan@aclu-sc.org
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