Ropes & Gray Brings Pro Bono Action on Behalf of Jewish Student Facing Antisemitic Harassment and Retaliation at California High School

Ropes & Gray LLP, in partnership with The Deborah Project, has filed a pro bono civil rights lawsuit against the San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD) in California on behalf of Eden Horwitz, a Jewish student, and her mother, Montana Horwitz. The lawsuit alleges a pervasive pattern of antisemitic harassment and illegal retaliation, naming District officials and teachers as defendants.

Eden—a Jewish and multiracial twelfth-grader—enrolled in San Leandro High School’s Social Justice Academy in fall 2023, a selective program promising “intersectional education and justice, transformative solidarity, and radical healing.” She arrived as a B-average student and accomplished three-sport athlete with Division I college prospects in track and field.

Within months, everything changed. After the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, Eden became a target. The lawsuit alleges that SLUSD officials and teachers:

• Permitted classmates to brand Eden a “Zionist” as a slur, accuse her of “genocide,” and openly support Hamas—harassment so severe she stopped wearing her Star of David necklace to school;
• Instructed students that supporting Israel or Zionism was inherently “wrong” and excluded any instruction on the Holocaust from the program’s formal lessons;
• Dismissed Eden’s complaints about antisemitic treatment, with one teacher asking whether classmates disliked her “because [she is] Jewish, or just unlikable?”
• Supervised school-sponsored events where students chanted “From the River to the Sea”—widely recognized as a call for Israel’s elimination—and then chastised Eden for refusing to participate; and
• Retaliated against Eden’s family after they complained—pressuring her to sign a punitive agreement that contradicted her disability accommodations, expelling her from the program within 48 hours of a meeting about the discrimination, and publicly announcing her removal to peers.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and systemic reforms within SLUSD, as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

“San Leandro’s Social Justice Academy promises inclusion, but for this student, it delivered state-sponsored exclusion,” said Ryan H. Weinstein. “Faculty didn’t just ignore the antisemitic abuse—they fueled it. And when confronted with the truth, the District didn’t investigate; it retaliated. We are seeking systemic change to ensure that ‘social justice’ is never again used as a shield for discrimination against a Jewish student—or any student.”

“This case exemplifies a disturbing trend: schools that champion social justice while turning a blind eye to antisemitism,” said Jerome M. Marcus of The Deborah Project. “We are holding these institutions accountable to their own stated values.”