Antisemitic tropes and swastikas in class, Sieg Heil salutes -- and no meaningful response from administrators
New York, NY, April 23, 2026 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) and the Akerman law firm have filed a joint complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging a Jewish student was subjected to a sustained and continual pattern of antisemitic harassment while enrolled in the Bay County, Florida School District.
The Title VI complaint alleges that the student, who is currently in 11th grade, was subjected to antisemitic bullying, harassment and discrimination on a regular basis while enrolled at the A. Crawford Mosley High School in the Florida panhandle, part of a sustained and recurring pattern that had continued against the boy since elementary and middle school through 2025.
In August and September of 2025, a group of students in the Jewish student’s class presented two antisemitic PowerPoint projects which displayed highly offensive antisemitic imagery, antisemitic tropes, and demonizing narratives, including conspiracy theories portraying Jewish people as collectively powerful, greedy and manipulative. The students performed Nazi salutes and wore yarmulkes while making the presentation, and the teachers present in the classroom while the presentation took place did nothing to stop it.
This antisemitic presentation occurred after years of attempts by the student’s mother, a former district employee for nearly 20 years, to voice concerns over how her son was being excluded within the larger school community due to his Jewish faith. She repeatedly reached out to administrators with requests for greater inclusivity for Jewish students and recognition of Jewish holidays in addition to Christian ones district wide. Her requests for help for her son were largely ignored.
As a result of the continued harassment even prior to the antisemitic presentations, the student decided it was necessary to hide his Star of David necklace and hide his religious identity completely, out of concerns for his physical safety.
“By any measure, the antisemitic harassment and discrimination present in this school district was overwhelming and pervasive, and the district’s failure to effectively respond constitutes a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” said James Pasch, ADL Vice President of Litigation. “No child should have to endure this kind of sustained harassment and exclusion for their religious identity in a public school or any school, and no parent should have to beg a school district to include their child because they are Jewish.”
Eric Gordon, chair of Akerman's Labor & Employment Practice Group said: “Every child deserves to feel safe in their school. The pattern of antisemitic harassment documented in this complaint, and the district's sustained failure to act, represents a clear violation of the civil rights protections that exist to prevent exactly this kind of harm. We are proud to stand with this family and with ADL in holding the district accountable.”
“Bullying and harassment have persisted during Student A’s time enrolled in the district, but the district’s institutional neglect of Jewish students isolated Student A and left him to suffer in silence,” the complaint alleges. The district “knew, or should have reasonably known, that Student A was being isolated, singled out and excluded from school-wide holiday celebrations and other programs.”
ADL and Akerman are asking the U.S. Department of Education to require the district to take steps to comply with Title VI and ensure that Jewish students are safe and welcome in the future. Those include adopting the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitic conduct, implementing mandatory antisemitism training for all students, administrators, school board members, teachers, faculty and staff, and modifying relevant educational programs and trainings to ensure appropriate inclusion of Jewish identity, including revising the “Christmas Break” to read “Winter Break” on the academic calendar.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin, including discrimination against Jewish students on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding.
Since Oct. 7, ADL has filed civil rights and legal complaints against public school districts and schools to address antisemitic environments for Jewish students, including a successfully resolved matter against the Santa Ana Unified School District. Currently filed matters include Title VI Complaints against the Baltimore City Public Schools, the Berkeley Unified School District, and Etiwanda School District. Several filed complaints have resulted in successful resolution agreements, including by the Department of Education with the School District of Philadelphia and by the Department of Justice with Concord-Carlisle Regional School District.
This Title VI complaint, filed together with Akerman, marks the first legal action brought by the ADL Legal Action Network, which was created in response to a sustained surge in violence and hate towards Jews and Jewish institutions across the United States.
In October of 2025, ADL and Gibson Dunn launched the ADL Legal Action Network, a coordinated network of law firms to provide free legal assistance to victims of antisemitism. The network is powered by Gibson Dunn and has a steering committee of additional law firms including Cooley LLP; Covington & Burling LLP; Morgan Lewis; Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. More than 54 law firms across the U.S. have agreed to receive client referrals or provide support as co-counsel.
ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913 to protect the Jewish people, ADL works to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all. In the face of rising antisemitism and extremism, we protect, advocate, and educate, through a mix of programs and services using the latest innovations and technology, and seek to create a world without hate.
Founded in 1920, Akerman LLP is an Am Law 100 firm recognized by Vault among the nation’s most prestigious law firms. The firm has more than 700 lawyers and business professionals throughout the United States.