A federal civil rights complaint filed Oct. 29 with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleges the Paradise Valley Unified School District failed to address antisemitic harassment of a 14-year-old Jewish student at Desert Shadows Middle School in Scottsdale, Arizona. The complaint, filed by the Anti-Defamation League and Reed Smith LLP on behalf of the student and her family, says she was targeted by at least five students between April 20 and May 21, culminating in a physical assault on the last day of school.
The complaint alleges the district knew about the harassment from the first report but responded with dismissiveness and delay, according to the filing. It says Student A was called an “ugly Jew” and a “dirty filthy Jew,” was told she should be “gassed” and that her parents should send her to a concentration camp, and was subjected to a Heil Hitler salute with shouts of “Jew, Jew, Jew,” according to the complaint.
Student A was targeted by at least five students between April 20 and May 21.
The complaint states After she reported the harassment, she was threatened for “snitching,” according to the filing. On the last day of school, the student who allegedly called her an “ugly Jew” allegedly shoved her across a desk into a cabinet, the complaint says.
The filing details a series of alleged failures by school staff. Student A’s teacher allegedly told her the slurs were “not his problem,” according to the complaint. Administrators allegedly refused to call her parents because staff were “too busy.” An assistant principal allegedly suggested the student who gave a Heil Hitler salute “probably had a crush on” Student A, and the school’s principal allegedly excused one of the perpetrators because he was “very religious,” the complaint states.
According to the filing, Student A was moved into a class with one of her harassers after reporting the incidents and was ultimately confined to the principal’s office, where she accumulated more than 45 missing assignments. The complaint contends the harassment escalated to a physical assault because the district failed to effectively remedy it. Student A has since left Desert Shadows and now attends school in a different district, according to the ADL.
In a statement, James Pasch, ADL vice president of litigation, said the harassment “was preventable” and that the district “failed to effectively remedy the ongoing harassment in violation of Title VI.” Pasch said the district “isolated the victim and attempted to make excuses for the antisemitic harassment.”
Sarah Kader, deputy director of the ADL Desert Region, said, “No child should be told she belongs in a gas chamber, and no family should have to plead with their school to take pervasive antisemitic harassment seriously.” Kader said other Jewish students at Desert Shadows have also “faced harassment because they are Jewish.”
Gregory Speier, a partner at Reed Smith, said the family “did everything they were supposed to do” by reporting and trusting the school to act.
The Paradise Valley Unified School District said it “unequivocally condemns antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination.” In a statement, the district said each incident reported last school year “was immediately investigated and addressed,” citing federal student privacy laws for not sharing specific disciplinary actions. The district said Desert Shadows students participated in presentations addressing antisemitism last school year and intends to continue those efforts, and it cited Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports as part of its school-culture work.
The complaint is a Title VI of the Civil Rights Act claim, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs receiving federal funding. The Office for Civil Rights, part of the U.S. Department of Education, is responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws in schools.
The ADL is asking OCR to conduct an investigation and require the district to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitic conduct, create meaningful policies and implement training. The complaint was filed Oct. 29 with OCR on behalf of the student and her family by the ADL and Reed Smith LLP.
The filing comes amid a broader federal review of antisemitism in schools. The U.S. Department of Education opened civil rights investigations into several universities over alleged antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, and OCR has said it is examining school responses to antisemitic harassment more broadly. OCR typically has 180 days after a complaint is filed to complete an investigation, though cases can extend beyond that timeframe.
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