California State University has settled a lawsuit with its faculty union that restricts the university from divulging personal information to federal agencies investigating antisemitism on campus without the employee\u2019s knowledge, union leaders said. <\/p>\n
The settlement requires CSU to notify employees \u201cas soon as reasonably practicable\u201d before complying with any subpoena for personal information, unless the notification would be against the law, according to a California Faculty Assn. statement released Wednesday.<\/a><\/p>\n This personal information includes names, Social Security numbers, physical descriptions, addresses and any other identifying information, the faculty union said.<\/p>\n The union lawsuit stems from an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into employee complaints of campus antisemitism at CSU, part of the Trump administration\u2019s broader incursions into higher education. The commission, which has subpoena power, sought a large-scale trove of information for every employee at Cal State L.A. <\/p>\n \u201cWe celebrate this settlement as a win that will help prevent workers from being caught off guard by the CSU handing over personal information to federal agencies without the knowledge of the faculty impacted,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n CSU said in a statement that \u201cboth parties have a mutual interest in safeguarding employees\u2019 personal information and providing timely information to those most impacted … We believe this agreement successfully accomplishes both.\u201d<\/p>\n The EEOC had been investigating Cal State L.A. \u2014 the only campus identified in the investigation \u2014 since demonstrators erected a pro-Palestinian encampment in spring 2024 as part of a larger wave of nationwide campus protests against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. The protest at Cal State L.A. escalated after a student services building on the campus was vandalized<\/a> in June of that year.<\/p>\n The California Faculty Assn. filed the suit in October in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing state constitution-guaranteed rights to privacy and the California Information Practices Act \u2014 a piece of legislation that governs the disclosure of personal information by state agencies.<\/p>\n Additional CSU unions joined in the lawsuit , including United Auto Workers Local 4213, which represents academic student workers, and Teamsters Local 2010, representing skilled trade employees.<\/p>\n