Former Emerson College staffer sues school, alleging she was laid off for showing film about Israel

The film, directed by two Jewish filmmakers, “uniquely explores how Jewish attitudes towards Israel are changing dramatically, with massive consequences for the region and for Judaism itself,” according to its website.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began, screenings across the country have been canceled, postponed, and cited in a federal lawsuit, the Globe reported.

By early October, Feder had received complaints from just two people, a faculty member and a trustee, neither of whom were identified in court papers, the lawsuit stated.

In a meeting with Emerson’s president, Jay Bernhardt, he told her “it was not appropriate for a trustee to contact Ms. Feder the way that the trustee had, and that she should proceed with her program as planned,” the lawsuit said.

Then came the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks in Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and prompted a retaliatory Israeli military response that has killed tens of thousands in Gaza.

Following the Hamas attacks, Emerson “pressured her” to postpone the “Israelism” screening, and the same trustee texted her again to voice concerns, the lawsuit alleged.

In late October, Feder had a Zoom meeting with Bernhardt and her supervisor, in which she was told that if she went forward with the November screening, the school would “publicly disavow it,” and Bernhardt told her that he’d “‘revisit’ Ms. Feder’s program in the future,” the lawsuit said.

She ultimately postponed the screening until Feb 1, 2024, and it was “the most successful screening that Ms. Feder had seen” during her time at Emerson, the complaint said.

The 180-seat theater was filled to capacity and a post-screening talk with the filmmakers occurred “without incident,” the lawsuit said.

Asked for comment on the lawsuit, college officials said her termination was unrelated to the movie.

Last summer, the college “implemented several cost-cutting measures, including a reduction in force, which eliminated a modest number of positions and programs,” the school said in a statement. “The College adamantly denies any wrongdoing in this cost-reduction process and is confident that the facts fully support its position.”

The lawsuit comes at a time of high tension on college campuses, with President Trump threatening to withhold billions in federal grants to Harvard and other schools if they fail to address what his administration says is rampant antisemitism on elite campuses.

International student visas have also been revoked and foreign-born students identified as pro-Palestinian have been picked up by ICE for deportation.

In February 2024, Feder published an op-ed in the student newspaper about the screening, and her concern that Emerson was “endeavoring to shut down campus speech around Palestine,” the lawsuit said.

Feder, a Jewish member of Emerson Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, was also present for stretches at the pro-Palestinian encampment erected near campus that Boston police forcibly broke up last April, arresting more than 100 people.

The suit said that when Feder visited the encampment, she organized donations, helped with trash pickup, kept watch over students at night, and spoke to the media about their efforts.

In early July, Feder was quoted in the Globe, criticizing the administration’s response to the police clearing of the encampment.

“There was no acknowledgment that there were any injuries at all,” said Feder, who livestreamed the arrests on social media. “This has been the frustration from the students and from faculty and staff, that they’re not taking responsibility for what happened.”

Emerson had “expressed alarm” to Feder’s union about her support for the student activism, the lawsuit stated, and in late July, Feder announced the film series was partnering with the Boston Palestine Film Festival to screen a film about Marwan Barghouthi, a prominent Palestinian political figure, imprisoned for ordering suicide bombings against civilians, charges he has denied.

Feder’s film series had partnered with the Palestinian festival for several years, according to the lawsuit.

In early August, however, Feder’s supervisor told her there was a “new process” requiring her to get approval “from upper administration” for the movies she planned to screen as part of the series, something she had not been asked to do before.

Feder was told Aug. 13, that Emerson was closing the film series and laying her off, due to a “budgetary shortfall and focus on academic programs,” the lawsuit said.

Three days later, an Emerson human resources official told Feder’s union representatives that the decision to close the film series came from provost Alexandra Socarides.

“On information and belief, Provost Socarides stated that the decision to close the series and ‘lay off’ Ms. Feder came from the Board of Trustees,” the complaint said.

Socarides did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit described the Bright Lights series as a “very inexpensive program in comparison with other non-academic programs that were not cancelled, and Ms. Feder had recently cut the program budget even further.”

It alleged that she was fired for “asserting her legally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression,” by screening “Israelism,” and publicly supporting students advocating for the Palestinian cause.

Feder seeks damages totaling more than $280,000, as well as compensation for attorney’s fees, additional “punitive damages,” and any other “relief as may be just and proper,” records show.

Material from prior Globe stories and from Globe wire services was used in this report.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.