EEOC filed court action demanding University of Pennsylvania produce names and contact information of Jewish employees

In July 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an administrative subpoena to the University of Pennsylvania demanding the personal contact information and identifying details of Jewish employees, as part of an investigation into whether Penn had allowed Jewish faculty and staff to be subjected to an unlawful hostile work environment based on national origin, religion, and race. Penn complied in part — producing antisemitism complaints it had received — but declined to directly identify individual employees, arguing the demand violated employees' First Amendment associational rights. On November 18, 2025, the EEOC filed a federal enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking a court order compelling Penn to produce the demanded identifying information.

The EEOC's demand targeted not only complaints but names and contact information of all employees of Jewish faith or ancestry, as well as records related to Jewish student organizations and campus events. Penn offered a less intrusive alternative — notifying employees of the EEOC's interest and allowing them to contact the agency voluntarily — but the EEOC rejected that approach. Several Jewish academic organizations, including chapters of the American Association of University Professors and Jewish law student groups, intervened in support of Penn, arguing the subpoena posed a tangible threat by compelling disclosure of religious affiliation to the federal government.

Updates

2026-03-31 — Federal district court ordered Penn to comply with subpoena; Penn appealed to Third Circuit [5]

Judge Gerald Pappert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted the EEOC's enforcement application, ruling the subpoena sought relevant information without imposing an undue burden and rejecting Penn's First Amendment and equal protection challenges. The court ordered Penn to comply as modified to protect employees' specific organizational affiliations. Penn appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

2026-07-23 — EEOC withdrew subpoena; case resolved without any identifying information disclosed [2, 3, 4]

The EEOC agreed to withdraw the subpoena and filed a resolution agreement in the Third Circuit stating it "will not take any further measures to enforce the subpoena seeking identification and personal contact information of employees of the University of Pennsylvania" and would not seek the same information through alternative means. In exchange, Penn agreed to drop its appeal and stipulated that the parties' agreement mooted the case; neither party sought attorney's fees. Penn's spokesperson stated the university "has been able to protect its employees' rights and none of the subpoenaed personal contact information was disclosed." The EEOC did not explain publicly why it reversed course.