Matthew Rodriguez is a digital producer for CBS Los Angeles. He's previously reported for local outlets like the Argonaut and Pasadena Weekly. Matt typically covers breaking news and crime.

Twenty-one unions and faculty organizations representing workers at every University of California campus have sued the Trump administration over its $1.2 billion fine against UCLA.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Association of University Professors, is the latest development in the ongoing legal battle between the university and President Trump. In August, the federal government suspended $584 million in research funding for UCLA, claiming that the pro-Palestinian encampments that took over the campus in 2024 created "a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students."

The White House said it is seeking $1 billion penalty, a day after freezing the research grants.

The coalition alleges the federal government used "financial coercion" in its proposed settlement with UCLA, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit further alleges that the Trump administration demanded that the university allow the federal government and its appointed monitor "cede control over curriculum, faculty hiring and promotion, and university admissions."

"We will not stand by as the Trump administration destroys one of the largest public university higher education systems in the country and bludgeons academic freedom at the University of California, the heart of the revered free speech movement," said AAUP President Todd Wolfson.

CBS News Los Angeles asked the U.S. Department of Justice, but did not receive a response as of Tuesday night.

In a statement, the UC System President's office wrote that it is not a party in the lawsuit, but it is working on several "legal and advocacy efforts to restore and maintain funding for critical research."

"Federal cuts to research funding threaten lifesaving biomedical research, hamper U.S. economic competitiveness and jeopardize the health of Americans who depend on the University's cutting-edge medical science and innovation," a spokesperson wrote in an email.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore a portion of research grants on Aug. 13.

In a similar decision on Sept. 3, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated Harvard University's First Amendment rights and federal law when it froze nearly $2 billion in federal grants because of the Ivy League school's handling of antisemitism on campus.

In July, Columbia University agreed to pay a $200 million settlement to the federal government as part of an agreement to resolve investigations into alleged violations of anti-discrimination laws.

UC workers, students sue Trump administration over UCLA settlement demands