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A Jewish woman who worked for Pomona College has sued the Southern California institution for feeling unsafe during the wake of pro-Palestine protests that took over college campuses in 2024.
Melody diDonato, who had a job in the college’s IT department, claimed she was forced to quit in May 2025 after developing fears around the protests in a complaint filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
She is seeking at least a million dollars in damages.
The protests “prevented… my client from having free access to the whole of her community, and she was subjected to discriminatory and harassing conduct on campus in violation of the law,” her lawyer David Tashroudian told the Daily Mail.
According to the lawsuit, diDonato was shocked at the 2024 protests that roiled Pomona College. At various points throughout the year, demonstrators unhappy with Israel’s war in Gaza took over parts of campus including a commencement stage and the president’s office.
As a result, diDonato said she had to see “antisemitic graffiti” and “shattered glass” around campus for months.
In May of that year, she emailed human relations “about her mental health and PTSD from the violent protesting and antisemitism she was exposed to,” the lawsuit said.
She also alleged her boss made comments against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that made her feel “targeted as a Jewish-American person.” The alleged message was titled “Welcome to an Apartheid State.”
Her complaint accuses the HR department for making no effort to address her concerns.
Pomona College bent over backwards to accommodate the protests, diDonato alleged, such as by not clearing out the protestors’ encampments and allegedly refusing more police presence. When the president’s office was stormed, it only heightened her fears of demonstrators taking over more administrative buildings.
All this made diDonato feel “very threatened and unsafe,” as she feared that “she would run into one of the violent protesters,” the suit said.
The lawsuit claims she then went on medical leave in June 2024 due to the stress, and she then was pushed out next year because her emotional distress prevented her from working on campus.
The court case is ongoing, but Pomona College told the Daily Mail it “vigorously denies these allegations and will continue to defend its position before the court.”
“All forms of discrimination and harassment, including antisemitism, are antithetical to Pomona College’s core values and have no place on our campus,” it added.
Tashroudian said the lawsuit will hopefully “make the campus safer for all students and faculty.”
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