Federal commission says Penn employed ‘intensive and relentless public relations campaign’ to avoid complying with subpoena

The federal commission seeking personal contact information for faculty and staff at the University of Pennsylvania has accused the school of engaging in an “intensive and relentless public relations campaign” to avoid complying with the subpoena.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in a court filing Monday, defended its subpoena seeking potential witnesses and victims of antisemitism at the university and said the request is not unusual for such investigations. The commission is seeking employees’ names, home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses to further an investigation it began in 2023 over the school’s treatment of Jewish faculty and other employees regarding antisemitism complaints following Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The commission’s request has spurred a backlash from student and faculty groups, including Penn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the Penn Faculty Alliance to Combat Antisemitism, arguing that the information should not be turned over. Penn has refused to provide the information, prompting the EEOC to file the lawsuit in November.

Penn’s response to the lawsuit, along with filings by other groups, “forecast highly speculative and deeply nefarious outcomes should the EEOC’s subpoena be enforced,” the commission said. “This dark prognosticating has been predictably (and immediately) reported in national, local, and campus outlets.”

» READ MORE: Penn calls federal commission’s request for personal employee information ‘unconstitutional,’ ‘disconcerting’ and ‘unnecessary’

The university, in a filing earlier this month, said the commission’s request was “disconcerting” and “unnecessary” and could pose a threat to employees.

“The EEOC insists that Penn produce this information without the consent — and indeed, over the objections — of the employees impacted while entirely 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 wrote in its filing.

The commission argued in response that Penn’s assertion of potential danger to employees is “untethered from both the law and the reality of these proceedings.”

“The EEOC seeks only to investigate allegations of serious, widespread antisemitic harassment in Respondent’s workplace,” the commission argued.

» READ MORE: EEOC sues Penn for failing to release information related to antisemitism investigation

The commission, the group said, is only seeking information on faculty and staff “who complained of antisemitic harassment, who belonged to Jewish affinity organizations, or who worked in the Jewish Studies Program.” They could have knowledge of potential problems, the commission said.

Penn can provide the contact information without listing the employees’ organizational affiliations, the commission said.

Penn did not immediately comment on the latest EEOC filing.

Penn has said it provided over 900 pages of materials to the commission and offered to send notices to all employees about the EEOC’s request to hear of antisemitism concerns with the commission’s contact information, so they could reach out themselves if interested in participating.

But the commission called that offer “unworkable” and said it “would undermine the integrity of the agency’s investigation.”

“Messages from EEOC to employees filtered through an employer always risk creating confusion, fear, and mistrust among recipients,” the commission said.

That path could increase the possibility of retaliation against employees for cooperating with the investigation, the commission argued.

The university has challenged the validity of the EEOC’s charge, asserting that the commission has not identified a “single allegedly unlawful employment practice or incident involving employees.” It also “does not refer to any employee complaint the agency has received, any allegation made by or concerning employees, or any specific workplace incident(s) contemplated by the EEOC,” the university said.

While EEOC complaints typically come from those who allege they were aggrieved, this one was launched by EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas, now chair of the body, on Dec. 8, 2023, two months after Hamas’ attack on Israel that led to unrest on college campuses, including Penn’s, and charges of antisemitism. It was also just three days after Penn’s then-president, Liz Magill, had testified before a Republican-led congressional committee on the school’s handling of antisemitism complaints; the testimony drew a bipartisan backlash and led to Magill’s resignation days later.

Lucas, according to the EEOC complaint, made the charge in Penn’s case because of “probable reluctance of Jewish faculty and staff to complain of harassing environment due to fear of hostility and potential violence directed against them.“

The commission in its filing Monday said its practice is within its regulations.

“This charge alleges a time frame, an unlawful employment practice (hostile work environment), the individuals potentially affected by that alleged unlawful employment practice (Jewish employees), and the publicly available sources,” the commission said.

The commission also criticized Penn’s concerns about potential leaks of employees’ contact information through the EEOC, noting the data breach that occurred at Penn last year, exposing employees’ information.

“Its concerns about the security of EEOC’s IT systems are disingenuous,” the commission said.