Syntax error, unrecognized expression: :not(:contains(';Meeting Minutes')) Works fine in IE, but not Firefox

Syntax error, unrecognized expression: :not(:contains(';Meeting Minutes')) Works fine in IE, but not Firefox

I am attempting to do a comparison and it works in IE but not in Firefox. I am assuming it has to do with the semicolon. How do I go about escaping this appropriately? The error I receive is

Syntax error, unrecognized expression: :not(:contains(';Meeting Minutes'))

I cant just compare the text as there could be a word such as Plan as part of a string, but I only want it when it matches Plan explicitly.

    $(".EI-Disc-Outer").each(function(i){
        var pageMetaTitle = "\;" + pageTitle;
               
        if($(this).find(".EI-Metadata").not(":contains('" + pageMetaTitle +"')").text()){
            $(this).find('img').addClass('EI-Disc-Opacity');
            $(this).find('.EI-Discipline-Item').addClass('EI-NonDiscipline');
        }
    });

Edit: Actually after testing it without the semicolon I still get the error, so I am assuming it doesn't have to do with escaping it.