Discriminatory Minneapolis Teachers’ Contract Update

Tom Fitton’s Judicial Watch Weekly Update
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September 05, 2025

Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Racially Discriminatory Teachers’ Contract
Judicial Watch Sues FBI for Records on Death of Terrorist ‘Marwan’
Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Workplace Incident Involving Attorney
HUD to Finally Stop Illegals from ‘Riding the Coattails of American Taxpayers’

 

Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Racially Discriminatory Teachers’ Contract

We have formally requested that the Civil Rights Divisions of the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor investigate the collective bargaining agreement between Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, citing violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In August 2022, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Minneapolis taxpayer over a teachers’ contract that provided discriminatory job protections to certain racial minorities. The lawsuit was filed against the superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools, the Minneapolis Public Schools, and the Minneapolis Board of Education for violating the Equal Protection Guarantee of the Minnesota Constitution.

In January 2025, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion, rejecting our lawsuit without addressing the constitutionality of the contract.

In our letters to the Civil Rights Divisions of the Departments of Education and Labor, Judicial Watch urges the agencies to “open a formal investigation” of Minneapolis public schools for civil rights violations:

Judicial Watch requests the Office for Civil Rights investigate Article 15 of the collective bargaining agreement between the Minneapolis Public Schools, Special District No. 1 (“MPS”) and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. The contract violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Article 15 exempts teachers of color from MPS’s seniority-based layoffs and reassignments, which means, when layoffs or reassignments occur, the next senior teacher who is not “of color” would be laid off or reassigned. The contract also mandates that MPS reinstate teachers of color over more senior teachers who are not “of color.” Prior to the contract, teachers were laid off or reassigned in order of seniority, with the least senior teachers laid off or reassigned first, without regard to race or ethnicity. Similarly, teachers were reinstated in order of seniority, with the more senior teachers reinstated first, without regard to race or ethnicity. Article 15 has been effective as of July 1, 2021, and continues to be in effect today. In addition, MPS is currently negotiating with the teachers’ union concerning a new contract. There is no indication that this provision will not be included in the new contract.

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MPS’s Article 15 is repugnant to the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the 14th Amendment. It is not only a discriminatory contract that threatens teachers’ jobs, but a blatant civil rights violation and cannot stand.

The letters conclude: “Should any portion of this complaint fall outside the OCR’s [Office of Civil Rights] subject matter jurisdiction, we request that you refer that portion to the Attorney General for further action.”

Minneapolis Public Schools clearly discriminate against teachers based on their race, and the school district is using taxpayer dollars to do so. Let’s hope that the Departments of Education and Labor do a better job of upholding civil rights law than the Minnesota Supreme Court.

 

Judicial Watch Sues FBI for Records on Death of Terrorist ‘Marwan’

We’re looking to shed light on a law enforcement action that took down a “Most Wanted” international terrorist.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the killing of Malaysian-born terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as “Marwan,” during a police raid (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-01991)).

Zulkifli bin Hir aka “Marwan” was indicted by the Justice Department in August 2007 for conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists:

Zulkifli Abdhir, aka “Zulkifli Bin Abdul Hir, aka “Hulagu,” aka “Marwan,” age 41, a fugitive believed to be in the Philippines, is charged in the indictment with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and providing material support to terrorists. In September 2003, the U.S. government designated Abdhir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224. In March 2007, the State Department added him to the most-wanted list of its Rewards for Justice program and authorized a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction …

In January 2015, Zulkifli bin Hir reportedly was killed during a raid by the Philippine National Police Special Action Force. Forty-four members of the police’s elite force also died in the assault.

A finger taken from a man killed in the raid was delivered to the FBI for DNA analysis. The FBI stated: “After a thorough review of forensic data and information obtained from our Philippine law enforcement partners, the FBI has assessed that terrorism subject, Zulkifli Abdhir … is deceased and has been removed from the FBI’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists.”

We sued after the FBI failed to respond to an April 25, 2025, FOIA request for records on Zulkifli bin Hir (aka “Marwan”) and his death during Oplan (Operation Plan) Exodus on January 25, 2015, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, Philippines. The request asked for records about the collection, analysis, and chain of custody of a severed left index finger alleged to belong to Marwan, as well as photographs of his body and any related identification or forensic documentation.

Marwan was a high-profile international terrorist on the FBI’s Most Wanted list with a $5 million reward. The operation that brought him down over a decade ago was a major event in Philippine and U.S. counterterrorism history. It’s time for transparency.

 

Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Workplace Incident Involving Attorney

We’re in court to help a patent attorney get the records she rightfully deserves.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf of patent attorney Regina Ciolek against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records concerning a reported “workplace incident” at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (Regina Ciolek v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No.1:25-cv-02764)).

Ciolek worked as associate intellectual property counsel at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard from December 2016 to July 2021, where she was responsible for managing intellectual property matters and patent law. The Broad Institute receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, a component of Health and Human Services.

Ciolek has over 20 years of experience in intellectual property law, specializing in biotechnology and life sciences. She holds a juris doctorate degree from Suffolk University Law School and a master’s in biology from Brandeis University.

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the National Institutes of Health failed to respond to an April 16, 2025, request for:

Copies of all records in NIH’s possession related to a workplace incident that occurred between December 2016 and present, where [Ciolek] was the victim. Specifically, [Ciolek] seek[s]:

1. Any NIH reports, internal investigations, complaints, or communications (emails, memos, or reports) regarding this incident involving Sahand Hormoz, Nir Hacohen, and [Corri] Hale.

2. Records of any disciplinary actions or safety measures taken as a result of the incident.

3. Security reports or footage logs from NIH security personnel and/or Broad Institute personnel if they exist.

4. Records and/or images, in any way relating to trafficked non-consensual pornography of the victim, [Ciolek].

The three individuals connected to the incident named in our complaint are:

Sahand Hormoz, an associate professor of systems biology at Harvard University and associate professor of data science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with affiliations to the Broad Institute.

Nir Hacohen, a core institute member and the director of the Center for Cell Circuits at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is the director of cancer immunology at the Mass General Hospital Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research, the David P. Ryan Chair in Cancer Research at the Mass General Cancer Center, and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Cori (Corri) Hale, senior counsel at the Broad Institute and previously an attorney at Hale Law PC, which specializes in the defense of medical professionals and research scientists, criminal law and business disputes.

It is ridiculous that our client must resort to suing the government to obtain information that she is legally entitled to receive.

Our lawsuits on behalf of clients challenging government actions are extensive.

Most recently, we announced that the U.S. Air Force will finally provide full military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021. Babbitt was the only official January 6 homicide victim. The Biden administration had previously denied Babbitt and her family these honors in retaliation for being at the U.S. Capitol that day. This decision came on the heels of a massive, nearly $5 million Trump administration settlement to her family for wrongful death and other claims against the U.S. Government.

In July 2025, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that Bucks County, Pennsylvania acted in bad faith in unlawfully suppressing public records concerning the county health department’s Covid-19 school guidance. The Commonwealth Court affirmed the trial court’s May 2023 award of sanctions against Bucks County in the amount of $3,000 to Judicial Watch client Megan Brock.

In January 2024, the City of San Francisco, in a 7-3 vote by the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco, authorized a settlement agreement in a taxpayer lawsuit we brought against the city, agreeing to discontinue its discriminatory guaranteed-income program funded by taxpayer money in favor of transgender individuals with a preference for biological black and Latino men who identify as women. The agreement committed the city to pay $3,250 in attorney’s fees and costs and not to create a new guaranteed income program with the same eligibility criteria.

 

HUD to Finally Stop Illegals from ‘Riding the Coattails of American Taxpayers’

Your tax dollars have been used to pay for the housing of thousands of illegal aliens, which means people who are legally present in the U.S. are deprived of help. Our Corruption Chronicles blog reports:

Earlier this year, in an effort to reverse the damage amid a nationwide affordable housing crisis, HUD and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to end the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of American citizens, especially veterans in need. Under the agreement HUD provided a full-time staff member to assist in operations at the Incident Command Center (ICC), creating an interagency partnership to facilitate data sharing and ensure taxpayer-funded housing programs are not used to harbor or benefit illegal aliens. “We will safeguard precious taxpayer resources, and we will stop the harmful practices of the former Biden Administration, which favored and prioritized illegal aliens over American citizens in the expenditure of housing funds and subsidies,” the HUD-DHS MOU states. Within days HUD announced that illegal immigrants would no longer qualify for government-backed mortgages through a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program that lends to “non-permanent residents.” The new policy ensures that illegal aliens cannot access FHA-insured financing and refocuses the use of taxpayer-funded federal housing programs to benefit U.S. citizens.

A few days ago, HUD Secretary Scott Turner took another critical step, sending a letter to over 3,000 Public Housing Authorities (PHA) around the nation requiring citizenship information for residents of the Section 8 program, which is funded by HUD and managed by local PHAs. Illegal aliens are not supposed to benefit from Section 8 housing, but enforcement has been lax for years and an estimated 100,000 non-citizens receive the taxpayer-funded subsidies. The audit will help clear the rolls and free resources to prioritize the needs of American citizens, according to Turner. PHAs have 30 days to provide tenant names, addresses, unit size and cost, number of people per unit and proof of American citizenship or eligible immigration status. “This information is required by law and this administration is upholding the law to its fullest extent,” Turner, a former Texas state legislator and professional football player, writes in the letter. “No longer will illegal aliens be able to leave citizenship boxes blank or take advantage of HUD-funded housing, riding the coattails of hardworking American taxpayers.”

The nation’s housing secretary goes on to reveal that his agency currently serves only one out of four eligible families due in part to the lack of enforcement of prohibition against federally funded assistance to illegal aliens. “HUD will leverage all available enforcement actions against entities who do not comply with the request for citizenship information, including but not limited to, examination of HUD funding and/or evaluation of PHA program eligibility,” Scott’s letter to the country’s PHAs states. Public housing advocates claim the crackdown will destabilize poor families and worsen the nation’s housing crisis. “No matter where we come from, how long we’ve lived here, or what language we speak, our country has the resources to ensure that all of us have a safe place to call home,” said an official with the National Housing Law Project, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing housing justice for poor people. “But Trump and Turner are threatening to take away the funding necessary to keep millions of people housed, despite tenants across the country struggling to make ends meet. Rather than address sky-high rents, increasing evictions, and record homelessness, Trump and Turner are forcing public housing authorities to divert their limited resources away from affordable housing and towards wasteful policy designed to cause fear and hardship among immigrant families and scare them into self-evicting.”

 

Until next week,