Indian American professors allege CSU caste policy targets Hindus
Two Indian American professors of California State University (CSU) have alleged that CSU’s non-discrimination policy, amended to single out ‘caste’ as a protected category, unconstitutionally singled out Indian origin and Hindu students and employees.
Professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha made the allegation in an appeal filed in Federal court last week in their case against their employer, CSU, according to a press release from Hindu American Foundation.
The appeal seeks to reverse the district court’s Nov 21, 2023 order dismissing their due process claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and entering judgment for defendant on their Establishment Clause claims for three reasons.
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The appeal argues that the district court improperly dismissed their due process claims for lack of standing as the evidence showed that they suffered and continue to suffer “the constitutionally sufficient harm of self-censorship due to CSU’s refusal to define caste, and the district court’s legal analysis on this issue is contrary to well-established case law.”
The district court, it says erred in dismissing their Establishment Clause claims by ignoring critical facts and misapplying the law to hold that “no reasonable reader would conclude that the Policy defines Hinduism to include a caste system.”
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The district court, the appeal further argues, improperly dismissed their Free Exercise claims following CSU’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.
The plaintiffs alleged in their Amended Complaint that the Policy interferes with their participation in their religion and impermissibly defines religious doctrine. Accepting those allegations as true, as the law requires, the district court’s dismissal cannot be sustained, the appeal stated.
“The record is clear: ‘caste’ was added to CSU’s non-discrimination policy for no other plausible reason than to intentionally target Hindus and define Hinduism in a constitutionally impermissible manner,” said Samir Kalra, HAF Managing Director.
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“This appeal is therefore necessary to protect the basic constitutional rights of not only professors Sunil Kumar and Praveen Sinha, but all Hindu faculty, staff, and students at CSU campuses throughout California.”
