B’nai Brith Backs Class Action Alleging McGill Failed To Protect Jewish Students

MONTREAL — B’nai Brith Canada announced it is sponsoring a proposed class action lawsuit against McGill University that alleges the institution failed to protect Jewish students from sustained harassment and antisemitic conduct beginning the day after the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.

The application for authorization to institute the class action was filed in Quebec Superior Court by the Montreal law firm Fishman Flanz Meland Paquin LLP on behalf of a student plaintiff. The suit would represent all Jewish students enrolled at McGill from October 8, 2023, onward, including undergraduates, graduate students, doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral researchers.

The complaint, as described on the project website and in supporting coverage, alleges that McGill repeatedly failed to enforce its own code of conduct and anti-discrimination policies. It seeks compensation for students who, the suit alleges, were deprived of a safe, welcoming, and respectful learning environment. It also asks the court to order McGill to enforce its existing policies and to recognize that anti-Zionism in its current expression on campus can constitute antisemitism.

B’nai Brith officials and the plaintiff point to a catalogue of incidents they say illustrate the university’s failure to act. The filing cites examples, including public social media posts from student groups praising the October 7 attacks, the distribution of disturbing imagery echoing Nazi violence, an encampment that displayed images of armed fighters, and a February 2024 protest that allegedly included a physical assault on a Jewish student.

“McGill’s Jewish students have endured relentless harassment while the university stood by,” said Henry Topas, Quebec regional director for B’nai Brith Canada, in public statements supporting the litigation. He added that the action aims to hold accountable those responsible for past failures and to implement measures to prevent future harm.

Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s director of research and advocacy, said the litigation aims to compel McGill to follow through on its stated commitments to equity and safety. The suit requests both damages and injunctive relief to force the university to apply its policies uniformly and to treat certain anti-Zionist actions as a form of antisemitism when they cross into discrimination or intimidation.

McGill has faced scrutiny since October 2023 over how it handled protests, encampments, and student union motions related to the Israel-Gaza war. University leaders have at times condemned harassment and announced investigations. The class action claims those responses were insufficient and inconsistent with the protections the university promises students.

Supporters of the suit say it is intended to send a clear message to universities across Canada that Jewish students must be protected and that institutional inaction will have consequences. Critics, including some student groups and campus activists, have argued that legal action can chill legitimate political expression and have launched counter campaigns defending campus protest rights.

If the Quebec Superior Court authorizes the class action, notice will be provided to eligible students, and the litigation will proceed unless resolved. The litigation seeks both monetary compensation for those who can show they were harmed and court orders requiring McGill to change its enforcement practices and to recognize the ways anti-Zionist conduct can manifest as antisemitism.

B’nai Brith Canada is encouraging Jewish McGill students to register for updates through the dedicated class action website. The organization said it will continue to press the case in court and in public to secure what it called meaningful relief for students who have felt unsafe on campus.

This article is based on verified information from the McGill class action website, the law firm Fishman Flanz Meland Paquin LLP, B’nai Brith Canada, The Jewish News (TheJ.ca), and The Canadian Jewish News.