Pomona College Faces Lawsuit Over 2024 Campus Protest Conditions
A civil complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court tests the legal boundaries of institutional duty of care during campus demonstrations — a question that courts across the country have...
A former Pomona College employee has filed a civil lawsuit against the Claremont, California institution, alleging she was constructively dismissed after campus pro-Palestinian demonstrations in 2024 created conditions she describes as threatening to her safety as a Jewish woman. The complaint was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to reporting by the New York Post dated within the current publication cycle. The plaintiff, identified as Melody DiDonato, held a position in the college's IT department and is seeking a minimum of $1 million in damages.
DiDonato's complaint alleges she was compelled to resign in May 2025 following the development of safety concerns she attributes to the protest environment on campus during the spring 2024 wave of demonstrations that affected colleges and universities nationally. The filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court is the operative public record in this matter; the docket number and full text of the complaint were not independently verified by The Congressional Times at time of publication.
The lawsuit intersects with ongoing federal policy discussions regarding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin — and under which the Department of Education has pursued inquiries into campus antisemitism at multiple institutions. Whether Pomona College is currently under any active federal investigation is not confirmed in available public records; a search of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights case database would be the authoritative source to answer that question.
Pomona College has not issued a public statement regarding the litigation that is available in verified public records as of the publication date of June 21, 2026. The college's response to the complaint, once filed with the court, would be the next dispositive public document. What remains unknown includes the specific institutional policies Pomona had in place during the 2024 demonstrations, what steps, if any, were taken in response to DiDonato's reported concerns, and whether any parallel administrative complaints were filed with state or federal agencies prior to the civil suit.