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The non-profit group behind the Vergara lawsuit, Students Matter, said its website was hacked over the weekend to display “vulgar and disgusting language.”

The website as of this afternoon displayed the message, “We are temporarily Under Construction.”

Students Matter sent out information about the hack in its regular newsletter Monday. The statement read:

Over the weekend, the Students Matter website (www.studentsmatter.org) was maliciously hacked to display vulgar and disgusting language. As a result, Students Matter has temporarily disabled the website and is in the process of removing the offensive language.  No files or confidential information was compromised.  We apologize to our supporters who may have seen the offensive content, and are working to strengthen our website security measures going forward.  

 

The hack follows an uptick in digital hate mail received by Students Matter staff, and is consistent with a coordinated and targeted attack on our online presence.  Students Matter takes these actions seriously and is working closely with data security experts to publicly identify the source.

 

A representative with Students Matter told LA School Report the organization would have no further comment about the hack at this time.

Students Matter financially supported the student plaintiffs in the Vergara lawsuit, a landmark case in which Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu last year struck down California’s laws regarding teacher tenure, layoffs and dismissals. The plaintiffs argued that the state’s teacher employment laws deny students access to a quality public education because it is too easy for a teacher to get tenure in California, too difficult to fire a bad teacher and too harmful to students to base teacher layoffs on seniority.

The case has been appealed by the defendants in the case, the state of California,  the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers, and a ruling on the appeal is expected in 2016.