{"id":369180,"date":"2026-06-21T14:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T14:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/369180\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T14:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T14:42:13","slug":"jewish-ex-staffer-says-california-colleges-chaotic-pro-palestinian-takeovers-threatened-her-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/369180\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish ex-staffer says California college\u2019s chaotic pro-Palestinian takeovers threatened her safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Jewish woman who worked for Pomona College has sued the Southern California institution for feeling unsafe during the wake of pro-Palestine protests<\/a> that took over college campuses in 2024.<\/p>\n

Melody diDonato, who had a job in the college\u2019s IT department, claimed she was forced to quit in May 2025 after developing fears around the protests in a complaint filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court.<\/p>\n

She is seeking at least a million dollars in damages.<\/p>\n

\"Melody<\/p>\n

Melody DiDonato Melody DiDonato<\/p>\n

The protests \u201cprevented\u2026 my client from having free access to the whole of her community, and she was subjected to discriminatory and harassing conduct on campus in violation of the law,\u201d her lawyer David Tashroudian told the Daily Mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, diDonato was shocked at the 2024 protests that roiled Pomona College. At various points throughout the year<\/a>, demonstrators unhappy with Israel\u2019s war in Gaza took over parts of campus including a commencement stage and the president\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

As a result, diDonato said she had to see \u201cantisemitic graffiti\u201d and \u201cshattered glass\u201d around campus for months.<\/p>\n

In May of that year, she emailed human relations \u201cabout her mental health and PTSD from the violent protesting and antisemitism she was exposed to,\u201d the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n

She also alleged her boss made comments against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that made her feel \u201ctargeted as a Jewish-American person.\u201d The alleged message was titled \u201cWelcome to an Apartheid State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her complaint accuses the HR department for making no effort to address her concerns.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Palestinian<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally at the Shrine Auditorium where a commencement ceremony for graduates from Pomona College was being held Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. AP<\/p>\n

Pomona College bent over backwards to accommodate the protests, diDonato alleged, such as by not clearing out the protestors\u2019 encampments and allegedly refusing more police presence. When the president\u2019s office was stormed, it only heightened her fears of demonstrators taking over more administrative buildings.<\/p>\n

All this made diDonato feel \u201cvery threatened and unsafe,\u201d as she feared that \u201cshe would run into one of the violent protesters,\u201d the suit said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A pro-Palestinian protestor walks along a line of LAPD officers outside Pomona College\u2019s commencement ceremony. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims she then went on medical leave in June 2024 due to the stress, and she then was pushed out next year because her emotional distress prevented her from working on campus.<\/p>\n

The court case is ongoing, but Pomona College told the Daily Mail it \u201cvigorously denies these allegations and will continue to defend its position before the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll forms of discrimination and harassment, including antisemitism, are antithetical to Pomona College\u2019s core values and have no place on our campus,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Tashroudian said the lawsuit will hopefully \u201cmake the campus safer for all students and faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Jewish woman who worked for Pomona College has sued the Southern California institution for feeling unsafe during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,135949,98310,149687,123808,1009],"class_list":["post-369180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-commencement-ceremony","tag-los-angeles-county-superior-court","tag-melody-didonato","tag-pomona-college","tag-southern-california"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}