HBS Graduate Appeals Dismissal of Discrimination Lawsuit Against Harvard

The Harvard Business School, where the October 2023 protest cited in the lawsuit took place. By Sarah G. Erickson

Harvard Business School graduate Yoav Segev filed a notice of appeal Friday morning challenging a December ruling that dismissed his discrimination lawsuit against Harvard and the Harvard University Police Department.

The appeal — filed in the District of Massachusetts — seeks review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for the decision issued last month by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns. The appellate court will assess whether Stearns correctly applied federal law, rather than reexamining the factual record of the case.

Under First Circuit procedure, Segev’s lawyers will typically have 40 days after the record is filed to file an opening brief identifying the specific legal errors they allege occurred in the district court’s decision. As of Friday afternoon, the First Circuit had not yet issued a briefing schedule.

Segev’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment about the issues they plan to raise on appeal.

Segev originally filed a 124-page complaint in July 2025, alleging that he was assaulted at a pro-Palestine protest in October 2023 outside the Harvard Business School. According to the complaint, Segev was filming a student-led “die-in” when he was pushed out of the crowd. He alleged that the incident was motivated by antisemitism.

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