Two workers on the CU Boulder campus, one sophomore and one recent graduate, are suing the university and top officials over disciplinary actions imposed after participating in pro-Palestine protests.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Jan. 13 in Boulder County District Court, Max Inman and Mari Rosenfeld said they were banned from campus except to attend classes after participating in a “peaceful pro-Palestine protest” at an Oct. 3 campus job fair that included “military contractors,” according to a press release from the Boulder law firm Hutchinson, Black & Cook.
Inman and Rosenfeld allege the campus ban, which lasted nearly two months, was instituted without a formal disciplinary hearing or procedure and violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Chancellor Justin Schwartz is named in the suit, along with the dean and deputy dean of students.
The lawsuit also alleges that the group that held the protest, Students for Justice in Palestine, has been subject to “disparate treatment” such as “extreme monitoring by the administration and abundant security presence at its planned events.” According to the lawsuit, the group was placed in bad standing by the university on Oct. 4, the day after the demonstration, for alleged violation of campus policies.
That same day, Rosenfeld and Inman were barred from campus except to attend classes. The exclusion "required Plaintiffs to arrive to class 'no earlier than 10 minutes before class and leave no later than 10 minutes once class is concluded,'" the lawsuit states.
Both plaintiffs were employed on campus at the time. Rosenfeld is a sophomore at CU Boulder; Inman graduated in December 2024.
Rosenfeld and Inman are asking to be reimbursed for unspecified campus fees for services and facilities they were unable to access during the ban and "loss of income by being prohibited from on-campus workplaces." They are also seeking an injunction prohibiting CU Boulder from banning pro-Palestine protests at the University Memorial Center (UMC) building or for disciplining students for participating in such demonstrations.
"Especially as a Jewish student at an institution that claims to value diversity of perspectives, my voice deserves to be heard when speaking about how Israel’s actions dishonor the Jewish people," Rosenfeld was quoted as saying in the press release. "This lawsuit tells CU that they cannot repress this student movement for a Free Palestine."
The university had not been served the lawsuit when Boulder Weekly reached out for comment on Monday, according to a spokesperson.