Jewish Employee Fired for Defending Israel in Nonprofit That Created Toxic Antisemitic Work Environment After Oct. 7 Attacks

The ACLJ is defending a Jewish executive-level employee who was retaliated against, disciplined, and ultimately let go from his job after he repeatedly raised concerns regarding the company’s antisemitic culture and spoke out against antisemitism and anti-Israel attacks on his personal Twitter/X account.

How the Discrimination Began

In early 2023, our client was hired as chief of staff for StoryCorps, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in New York. He first experienced the antisemitic work environment a few months after Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023. In the wake of escalating pro-Hamas/pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel “solidarity” protests throughout our nation, our client received the first of several company-wide emails promoting these same ideals. The first email encouraged employees to “create a supportive environment for those observing Ramadan,” and “wish one of your Muslim coworkers Ramadan Kareem – Happy Ramadan!” The email noted that several members of StoryCorp’s staff observed Ramadan and carried on with education on the Five Pillars of Islam and the practices of Ramadan.

Our client had no opposition to the email, but given the rise of antisemitism and anti-Zionism sweeping the nation – and the organization’s proclaimed mission to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment – he believed the company should also make a similar effort to educate its employees on Jewish and Christian holidays and beliefs. Accordingly, our client suggested that the company send out similar emails in light of the upcoming Easter holiday. Not only was our client’s suggestion brushed aside, but the CEO of the organization also informed our client that a failure to lift up fellow Muslims could be seen as anti-Muslim. No efforts were made, and no emails were sent to educate employees on non-Muslim holidays, beliefs, and traditions.

One month later, our client was summoned to a meeting with StoryCorp's president and CEO and chastised for retweeting a statement defending Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks by anti-Jewish and anti-Israel extremists. He was instructed to delete his post on his personal account despite our client’s explanation that his shared post didn’t mention Muslims and that it was a statement to oppose antisemitism and violent anti-Jewish attacks. Importantly, the organization does not maintain any policy prohibiting employees from making personal social media posts and/or censoring posts. Our client expressed his concern at this attempt to “silence Jews and target him for being Jewish.”

In the days that followed, our client continued to receive text messages from the CEO warning him not to make any more “Israel/Gaza-related posts.”  In a follow-up meeting with the president and CEO, it was conceded that our client had not violated any policies, rules, or laws. Instead, it was admitted that a Muslim employee had complained about his retweet and that the union (who was currently negotiating a bargaining agreement with the organization) had demanded that they take action against our client because of it. Our client responded by again expressing concern that the organization was creating a hostile and antisemitic environment by silencing pro-Jewish and pro-Israel expression while, at the same time, encouraging a pro-Muslim/pro-Palestinian culture in the workplace.

A few days later, our client received a formal reprimand for his tweet. Our client was forced to acknowledge receipt of the reprimand. He did so by writing, “I still maintain the complaint was largely grounded in anti-semitism.” The HR manager responded, “I’m doing what I was asked to do. Thank you for signing.”

In the weeks and months that followed, StoryCorp continued to foster an antisemitic and anti-Zionist work environment by encouraging and even applauding only pro-Muslim, pro-Palestinian expression by employees who wore buttons and other attire to work. The attire worn by employees (including the finance director for the company) included Palestinian keffiyehs (an act interpreted and understood by many as a symbol for advocating violence against Jews and even outlawed by some countries) and various buttons/pins containing symbols regularly appearing in Hamas videos, including one that is understood as a symbol advocating violence against Jews and banned in other countries. While employees were applauded for wearing this attire at an all-staff summit in June of 2024, our client was specifically instructed not to wear anything expressing an opposing view. Pictures of employees wearing the pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian attire were also posted on the company’s intranet TAC Board by an HR employee for everyone to see, but there were no pictures depicting anyone wearing any pro-Israel, pro-Jewish attire.

Late in the summer of 2024, our client was again instructed to delete any and all personal tweets that related in any way to Israel and antisemitism. Our client again pushed back and expressed discomfort with the company’s one-sided support for employees’ antisemitic/anti-Zionists expression.

Our Client’s Position Is “Eliminated”

In October 2024, and just a few days after once again expressing his concerns regarding the discriminatory environment at the company, our client was informed that his position as chief of staff was being “eliminated” due to financial constraints. Because our client had received a stellar job evaluation earlier in the year and had successfully secured revenue streams for the company bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual income for the current and future years (enough to cover his salary for 14 years), our client was surprised that it was his job that was being eliminated. Our client even offered to take a 40% reduction in salary until any financial shortfalls could be remedied. The company was not deterred from letting him go.

In his termination meeting with the president and CEO, both subtly suggested that part of the reason our client was being eliminated was to appease anti-Jewish/anti-Israel or pro-Muslim employees and to quiet pressure from the union over rank-and-file layoffs. One even claimed that “all hell will break out if we don’t eliminate your job today.”

The ACLJ Intervenes

Upon learning of the employer’s egregious actions, the ACLJ stepped in and issued a legal demand letter to the company outlining the discrimination and retaliation and demanding that they remedy the mistreatment of our client. As we explained in our letter, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against any individual regarding his or her terms of employment based on the individual’s race, national origin (ethnicity), or religion. It also prohibits the creation of a hostile work environment and/or the retaliation against an employee for raising concerns of discrimination in the workplace.

The discrimination our client endured as a Jew and Zionist is particularly egregious given his employer’s stated commitment to bring people with diverse views together to facilitate understanding. Instead of furthering this mission, StoryCorp intentionally silenced our client at a time of unprecedented antisemitism and anti-Zionist activism and violence in our country and encouraged antisemitic/anti-Zionist sentiment in the workplace.

The ACLJ is here to defend those who face discrimination in the workplace because of their faith or beliefs. We will keep you updated as this matter unfolds.