The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced that it has filed a federal civil rights charge with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Duquesne University.
The legal action, announced on Thursday, brought on behalf of Dr. Alex Kranjec, an associate professor of psychology at the university, alleges that the institution subjected him to ongoing antisemitic harassment, a hostile work environment, and severe professional retaliation after he opposed anti-Jewish discrimination within his department.
According to the complaint filed in early September, the hostility intensified following the October 7, 2023, attacks. Kranjec, who has taught at Duquesne since 2011 and earned tenure in 2017, reported multiple instances of departmental communications and graduate student social media activity that allegedly invoked anti-Jewish stereotypes, targeted him by name, and excused or celebrated violence against Israeli civilians.
The legal filing outlines a pattern in which university administrators repeatedly dismissed Kranjec’s concerns. When Kranjec circulated an educational survey identifying language in a Gaza-related petition that he believed reflected anti-Jewish bias, a visiting faculty member replied to the entire department and characterized his survey as “deceptive,” “offensive,” and ideologically motivated.
Furthermore, the complaint detailed an incident in February 2025 where a graduate student defended support for violent acts by terrorist organizations like Hamas during a public psychology department town hall event.
HR turned its disciplinary focus toward Kranjec
Subsequent reports filed by Kranjec were met with human resources advising him that the events did not meet the threshold for a hostile work environment.
Instead of addressing the underlying conduct, the university allegedly turned its disciplinary focus toward Kranjec himself. University officials characterized his formal complaints and internal communications as “unprofessional,” “uncivil,” “provocative,” or made in “bad faith.”
The filing noted that a student whose conduct Kranjec had reported filed a bullying complaint against him through the university’s reporting system, and in March 2026, an office display addressing antisemitism and anti-Zionism on Kranjec’s door was uniquely targeted when a poster was placed over it.
The retaliation allegedly extended to Kranjec’s academic responsibilities. In November 2025, university officials created an alternative section for a required course taught by Kranjec, telling him it was created so students could avoid taking his class after he raised concerns about antisemitism.
Additionally, in March 2026, Kranjec was removed from a Jewish graduate student’s comprehensive exam committee after administrators determined his ideology was incompatible with the student’s work on Jewish identity.
Deena B. Margolies, an attorney representing Kranjec for the Brandeis Center, filed the charge asking federal investigators to examine the allegations, provide protection from further retaliation, and grant appropriate relief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Duquesne University did not respond to an emailed request for comment by publication time.