Dive Brief:
- An Israeli former vice president of engineering for Intel sued the company Tuesday, alleging unlawful termination and retaliation on the basis of his race and national origin after complaining about a supervisor’s support for Hamas on social media.
- The plaintiff in Doe v. Intel Corp. said he was the only Israeli employee reporting to the supervisor. He expressed distress about working underneath the supervisor to a co-worker, who filed a complaint on the plaintiff’s behalf. Intel allegedly took no action in response to the complaint, and the plaintiff claimed he was fired after the supervisor found out about his former service with the Israeli army.
- In an email to HR Dive, Intel said it does not comment on ongoing litigation. “As a company, we have a longtime culture of diversity and inclusion and we do not tolerate hate speech of any kind, as outlined in our code of conduct,” Intel said.
Dive Insight:
The October 2023 attacks against Israel by Hamas quickly became an urgent concern for HR departments. While firms based in the region rushed to ensure employee safety, U.S. organizations also faced the potential for workplace discrimination related to the ensuing war. For instance, some employers rescinded job offers to prospective employees who made offensive comments.
A November 2023 Resume Builder survey of employees showed that respondents were divided on the question of whether employers should issue statements about the attacks. Divisions in the survey also emerged over whether individual employees who issued statements supporting a specific side in the war should be terminated.
The war also prompted federal agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to issue guidance. EEOC published a document noting that anti-Arab, anti-Middle Eastern, anti-Muslim and antisemitic discrimination are prohibited under Title VII. The document provided specific examples of such discrimination and noted that conduct which occurs outside the work environment — including social media posts — may contribute to a hostile work environment within the meaning of Title VII.
The plaintiff’s supervisor in Doe is alleged to have espoused antisemitic views directly in front of the plaintiff and to have supported “the murder of Israelis and Jews” on social media posts.
“Incredibly, no remedial action was taken in response to [the co-worker’s]’s complaint and John Doe continued to report to a man who would like to see his family murdered,” the suit claimed. “Intel did literally nothing to protect John Doe, which ultimately resulted in his discriminatory and retaliatory termination.”
The plaintiff asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for a jury trial as well as monetary and injunctive relief.
Asked how HR should approach employee social media posts related to the Israel-Hamas war, one attorney previously told HR Dive that employers should set ground rules and take action when those policies are breached.
