Jewish Doctor Fired for Anti-Hamas Posts Sues

Pilots, journalists, professors, and doctors have been fired or otherwise disciplined for comments supporting and condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza, and now, in what will add to a nationwide debate over what's considered protected speech amid the Israel-Hamas war, one doctor is suing in response. Dr. Benjamin Neel, who led the cancer center at NYU Langone Health, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit on Nov. 16 alleging he was removed as director on Nov. 10 as a result of religious discrimination, per the Washington Square News. Neel, who claims support for Israel forms part of his Jewish identity, had reposted political cartoons critical of Hamas on X, the New York Times reports. One showed a Hamas militant with a bloody machete and a bag marked "Israeli babies."

Another cartoon from 2014 depicted a Hamas leader with dynamite and a child strapped to his chest demanding "death to all Jews" while then-US Secretary of State John Kerry asked Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to "meet him half way." Neel's lawyer claims these posts were "tepid" compared to pro-Israel comments from other hospital officials. The suit cites an email that CEO Dr. Robert Grossman sent to Neel, stating students who expressed support for Hamas should lose scholarships. Neel, who remains a tenured professor at the hospital but claims his dismissal as cancer center director caused him to lose two-thirds of his pay, alleges the hospital turned him into "a sacrificial lamb ... to feign the appearance of even-handedness" after it fired another doctor for reposts supporting Palestinian resistance.

NYU Langone counters that employees were repeatedly reminded to abide by a code of conduct and Neel "disregarded these standards." It adds it "stands by our decision and looks forward to defending it in court." Neel argues that New York law protects employees from being fired for off-duty conduct. In fact, New York Labor Law Section 201-D bars private employers from firing someone for "legal recreational activities" or "political activities outside of working hours," but "the statute's language is remarkably vague and the courts have done little to clarify its key provisions," according to the New York State Bar Association. It notes even with protected activities, an employer could take adverse action if there's a conflict related to its "proprietary or business interest." (More wrongful termination stories.)