On July 7, 2026, a New York trial court judge Kathleen Waterman-Marshall dismissed the lawsuit filed by Khymani James, a third-year undergraduate student at Columbia University, who was suspended for one year following disciplinary actions related to their participation in an unapproved protest and social media activity.
James, who identifies as a Black Caribbean-American, was studying abroad in London during the fall semester of 2023 when they began posting social media content supporting Palestine. According to James, this led to receiving berating, insulting, and physically threatening messages.
In March 2024, Columbia's Center for Student Success and Intervention (CSSI) notified James of potential policy violations, including livestreaming a January 9 meeting with CSSI and using language hostile toward members of a protected class. On April 21, 2024, James participated in and encouraged a "human chain" after other students allegedly tried to enter the encampment while recording others without consent.
On April 26, 2024, CSSI placed James on immediate interim suspension for disruptive behavior during the unapproved encampment, including making threatening and discriminatory remarks. The suspension barred James from all campus activities and academic participation.
James' complaint alleged that Columbia had an implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing, promised due process, equal protection, academic freedom, and confidentiality of disciplinary records, and undertook not to retaliate against students for First Amendment-protected opinions.
The court noted that James, who was already on disciplinary probation, admitted Columbia suspended other students involved in the encampment and failed to identify any student on probation who was not disciplined. Columbia argued that the claim based on Tedeschi rights should be dismissed as there is no recognized cause of action for such rights, and that compliance with university policies is relevant to special proceedings under New York's Article 78 CPLR, which allows students to challenge disciplinary actions.
The lawsuit titled "Be Grateful That I'm Not Just Going Out and Murdering Zionists" was thus rejected by the court.
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