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The Trump administration has abandoned its effort to compel the University of Pennsylvania to provide the names and personal contact information of Jewish employees, ending a year-long legal dispute over a subpoena issued as part of a federal antisemitism investigation.
Court documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit show the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) agreed not to pursue enforcement of the subpoena or seek the requested information. In exchange, Penn agreed to dismiss its appeal, bringing the litigation to a close.
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania official website
"With the support of many members of the community who have stood with Penn throughout, the University has been able to protect its employees' rights and none of the subpoenaed personal contact information was disclosed," a university spokesperson said in a statement reported by The Hill.
The spokesperson added that Penn remains committed to combating antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.
The EEOC had sought the names and contact information of employees affiliated with Jewish organizations, including the university's Jewish Studies program, to identify potential witnesses or victims of antisemitism following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The subpoena also sought information on members of Jewish organizations, employees who filed antisemitism complaints and participants in confidential listening sessions conducted by Penn's antisemitism task force, according to court filings and earlier reporting on the case.
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Penn challenged the subpoena, arguing back in January that it jeopardized the privacy, safety and First Amendment rights of Jewish employees. In a court filing at the time, the university said the EEOC sought the information "without the consent — and indeed, over the objections — of the employees impacted," while disregarding "the frightening and well-documented history of governmental entities that undertook efforts to identify and assemble information regarding persons of Jewish ancestry."
The university also argued it had otherwise cooperated with the investigation, providing more than 900 pages of documents and offering to notify employees about the EEOC's inquiry so they could contact investigators voluntarily.
A group of more than 150 predominantly Jewish faculty members separately backed Penn's refusal to disclose names, saying they supported efforts to combat antisemitism but believed the subpoena raised concerns about privacy and security.
The decision comes the same day the Justice Department also withdrew subpoenas seeking phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists in a separate legal dispute.
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Tags: Trump administration, Jewish community, Antisemitism
