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First on Fox: A Jewish student claimed she was forced to withdraw from graduate program in part because her shabbos complied with allowed her religious discrimination lawsuit to resolve Columbia University.
Terms of settlement litigation The Legal Project and the documents submitted by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP are confidential, but legal project director Ziporah Reich said it includes financial compensation and other relief.
“These results reflect the power of legal action that makes meaningful change, and we are honored to stand behind a brave student who chooses to support his rights,” Brooke Goldstein, director of legal programs, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
A Colombia spokesman confirmed the settlement, saying: “We have reached a reciprocal confidential settlement with Forrest, which does not include any liability.”
Columbia University filed a lawsuit with an Orthodox Jewish student who accused religious discrimination. (Getty Image)
Mackenzie Forrest, an orthodox Jewish student Floridaclaiming she was forced to withdraw from the Columbia Institute of Social Work (CSSW) Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program after she requested that she be allowed to be out of reach for her safety after the October 7 terrorist attack on 7 Hamas, because of her safety.
Forrest claims that she attended the Columbia Institute of Social Work due to her interest in the DBT program. But when she informed the program’s director Dr. Andre Ivanoff, she would not be able to engage in Jewish Sabbath classroom activities shortly after being accepted in spring 2023, Ivanov said it would be a “problem,” court documents.
The student accused Colombia of retaliation after she asked for remote classes due to concerns about safety. (Sam Nahins)
Columbia University punishes students taking over buildings during anti-Israel protests
When the Jewish graduate student informed Ivanoff, she would not be able to attend a weekend suicide risk assessment workshop because it fell on Shabbos, also known as the Sabbath, and she would not be able to attend her religious practices.
Although Forrest said she could attend some of the workshop that did not happen from Friday night to Saturday night, Ivanov allegedly told her that she needed to be “assigned” from the rabbi to attend the workshop. Eventually, Ivanoff decided that when Forrest told him that he could not attend, he would assign her alternative courses to the workshop.
After the attack on October 7, 2023, Colombia’s campus exploded Entering the breeding ground of anti-Semitism. Forrest asked her to be allowed to attend the class due to fear of safety, given the plaintiff’s claim of widespread verbal abuse and physical assault on a pro-Israeli student who allegedly was beaten by a broom.
Solutions include financial compensation and other forms of relief.
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The graduate student’s request was not only denied, but shortly after she claimed she was facing revenge University. Despite being an upright student, Forrest was told she had the potential to fail the on-site-based internship section of the course, according to the claim. The Jewish student claimed she had never been told before that her academic consultants often knew her poor performance.
