US academic’s tirade calling Jewish professor ‘colonizer’ found to be antisemitic harassment

An expletive-laden outburst last year by a City College of San Francisco (CCSF) staff member that included calling a Jewish professor a “colonizer” constitutes unlawful harassment and discrimination based on her Jewish identity, an independent investigation has found.

The finding sets a precedent that attacking Jews as “colonizers” may be regarded as illegal harassment, according to a statement Tuesday by StandWithUs and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights, which represented the targeted academic, Computer Networking and Information Technology Professor Abigail Bornstein.

During a public CCSF Board of Trustees meeting on May 29, 2025, after Bornstein opposed a proposed budget item, the local Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president, Maria Salazar-Colon, aggressively chastised her, speaking by video link.

“I really wish that that colonizer, Abigail Dumb-stein, would shut her damn mouth and not speak on SEIU items,” she charged, adding that Bornstein was “dumber than a bag of rocks” and should “shut the fuck up.” She added: “I’m sick of her shit. Shut the fuck up,” before abruptly ending her 90-second rant.

During that meeting, Salazar-Colon sent Bornstein an email that, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, read, in all-caps: “YOU LACK THE POWER TO STOP OR CONTROL SEIU, AND YOU NEVER WILL! ACCEPT THAT, COLONIZER!”

“As a result of these incidents, Professor Bornstein feared for her safety, reported the conduct to campus authorities and the police, stopped coming to campus, and was unable to teach in person as planned,” Brandeis Center and StandWithUs said in their statement Tuesday.

The third-party investigator tapped by CCSF concluded, according to the statement, that “the repeated, public attacks against Professor Bornstein constituted harassment and discrimination based on her Jewish identity in violation of its policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and workplace violence.”

The findings “specifically credited evidence showing that terms such as ‘colonizer,’ as used in this context, functioned as an attack on Bornstein’s Jewish identity and national origin, and determined that the respondent’s claim that she was unaware of Bornstein’s Jewish identity was not credible,” it added.

A retaliatory complaint by Salazar-Colon against Bornstein was dismissed.

Salazar-Colon filed an appeal against the findings on February 5, but the board took no action to reverse them in the required 45-day period following a February 12 board meeting that discussed the appeal.

CCSF was set to take disciplinary action against Salazar-Colon, though there was no word on what this would entail.

“From the moment the words were spoken, I knew this was more than incivility — it was a deeply personal and antisemitic attack,” Bornstein said in reaction to the findings, according to the Tuesday statement.

“I am grateful that the College took my complaint seriously, retained an independent investigator, and ultimately confirmed that what occurred constituted harassment and discrimination based on my Jewish identity. No Jewish faculty member, employee, or student should have to endure language, intimidation, or threats rooted in antisemitism, and I hope the actions taken here help ensure that such conduct is clearly recognized and prevented going forward.”

Lawyer Deedee Bitran of StandWithUs said that “discriminatory treatment of minorities in the workplace — even when it takes the form of speech — may constitute unlawful harassment when it targets an individual’s protected identity. As this investigation confirms, calling a Jewish employee a ‘colonizer’ or mocking a Jewish employee’s last name can be actionable harassment, and employers have an obligation to provide a workplace free from such conduct.”

Asked for comment by the San Francisco Chronicle, Salazar-Colon said in an email: “NO COMMENT! I have boundaries, privacy and safety concerns! DO NOT EVER CONTACT ME AGAIN.”