Thakur vs. Trump Update: EPA Permanently Restores $19 Million in UC Research Grants

Lawyers representing University of California researchers in the class action case Thakur v. Trump have reached a settlement agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to permanently restore $19 million in UC research grants at issue in their claims against the agency.  

The settlement covers 24 research grants overseen by about 35 researchers. Examples of the restored grants include projects on the effects of particulate matter from wildfire smoke on environmental justice communities, research on air emissions from municipal solid waste landfills, and water management initiatives.

A motion for preliminary approval of the class settlement with the EPA was filed on September 23, and a hearing on this motion is scheduled for December 10 before U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin.

The pro bono case, Thakur v. Trump, was filed in June 2025 on behalf of UC faculty and other researchers whose grants the Trump Administration abruptly terminated across several government agencies by Executive Order.

The plaintiff class is represented by Tony Schoenberg, Linda Gilleran, Kyle McLorg, Dylan Silva, and Katherine Balkoski with Farella Braun + Martel LLP; Elizabeth Cabraser, Richard Heimann, Kevin Budner, Annie Wanless, and Clare Perez with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; and Erwin Chemerinsky and Claudia Polsky.

Farella Braun + Martel is a leading Northern California law firm representing corporate and private clients in sophisticated business and real estate transactions and complex commercial, civil, and criminal litigation. Clients seek our imaginative legal solutions and the dynamism and intellectual creativity of our lawyers. We are headquartered in San Francisco and maintain an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry.

Contact:
Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
415.954.4433 / [email protected]