CCSF Union Leader Found Guilty of Harassment After Antisemitic Tirade Against Jewish Instructor

Seven hours into an eight-hour Board of Trustees meeting at City College of San Francisco's Ocean Campus last May, Computer Networking and Information Technology Professor Abigail Bornstein criticized a proposed budget that would cut full-time faculty from 380 to 300 while expanding part-time positions from 600 to more than 800. What followed would keep her out of a classroom for nearly a year.

Maria Salazar-Colon, president of the CCSF chapter of SEIU Local 1021, called in by video link and delivered a roughly 90-second, profanity-laced tirade. "I really wish that that colonizer, Abigail Dumb-stine, would shut her damn mouth and not speak on SEIU items," Salazar-Colon said, according to a recording that circulated publicly. "Maybe she should go do math, or maybe shut the f**k up." During the same meeting, she followed up with an all-caps email to Bornstein: "YOU LACK THE POWER TO STOP OR CONTROL SEIU, AND YOU NEVER WILL! ACCEPT THAT, COLONIZER!"

On March 31, an independent investigator retained by CCSF concluded that Salazar-Colon had "verbally assaulted" Bornstein because she is Jewish, violating the college's anti-discrimination, harassment, and workplace violence policies. The investigator rejected Salazar-Colon's claim that she was unaware of Bornstein's Jewish identity as "not credible."

The ruling carries significance beyond this one campus dispute. Represented by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and StandWithUs Saidoff Law, the case establishes that targeting Jewish people with the term "colonizer" can constitute illegal harassment, not protected political speech or union activity. Deedee Bitran, senior counsel at StandWithUs, called it "a big landmark decision," adding: "It shows that you cannot target Jewish professors and hide behind, this is union activity or this is free speech."

The finding carries a pointed irony: Salazar-Colon holds two roles at CCSF. She is both the union chapter president and a staff member in the Office of Student Conduct and Discipline, the very office that handles misconduct at the institution. The college confirmed it will take disciplinary action but has declined to specify what that entails, citing it as a "personnel matter."

Bornstein filed complaints with CCSF Human Resources, campus police, and city authorities, stating she feared for her safety. She has taught remotely since May 29. "From the moment the words were spoken, I knew this was more than incivility — it was a deeply personal and antisemitic attack," she said in a statement, calling on CCSF to implement professional development and training for employees, board members, and student leaders.

CCSF also rejected a retaliatory counter-complaint Salazar-Colon filed against Bornstein, finding no evidence of wrongdoing and determining that Bornstein's reports of antisemitism had been made in good faith. Salazar-Colon appealed on February 5; the Board of Trustees took up the matter publicly on February 12, with eight colleagues of Bornstein speaking in her support. The board declined to act, and findings were finalized approximately 45 days later.

In a statement, Salazar-Colon argued her use of "colonizer" reflected "ongoing frustration with an anti-union faculty member" rather than antisemitism. To the San Francisco Chronicle, she responded in all caps: "NO COMMENT! I have boundaries, privacy and safety concerns! DO NOT EVER CONTACT ME AGAIN." SEIU field representative Andre Spearman, at the February 12 meeting, objected to the public hearing and called the investigation insufficiently thorough.

The case comes as campus antisemitism hit record levels: the ADL's 2024 audit recorded 1,694 incidents on college campuses, an 84% year-over-year increase, comprising nearly one in five of all 9,354 antisemitic incidents reported nationwide. Whether CCSF will disclose the specific discipline imposed, and how Salazar-Colon's continued role in the Office of Student Conduct is tenable, remains unanswered.