On August 13, 2024, Wigdor LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of our John Doe client against Intel Corporation, citing the company’s decision to terminate Mr. Doe after he raised concerns about his supervisor’s social media activity – namely, liking and reposting social media that both supported Hamas and celebrated the deaths of Israelis and Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers in the wake of the heinous October 7th attack. The facts below are taken from the Complaint.
Mr. Doe, an Israeli Jewish veteran of the IDF was forced by his employer, Intel, to report to executive Alaa Badr, who openly celebrated the deaths of his fellow community members. Upon learning of Mr. Doe’s discomfort with the reporting structure, Intel took no action and immediately terminated his employment, despite their assurances that the complaints would be taken seriously. Underscoring their disregard of the situation, Intel hired Mohamed Ahmed as Mr. Doe’s replacement, who also openly shared Badr’s anti-Israeli sentiments.
Intel, a multinational technology company, has, to date, held a positive and lucrative relationship with Israel, remaining one of Israel’s largest private employers with 10,000+ Israeli employees and over $50B invested into their operations in the country. Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, indiscriminately and openly murdered, sexually assaulted and took hostage Israeli men, women and children, forever changing the landscape of many Israelis’ lives. This moment marked a staggering rise in antisemitism and hate crimes against Israelis and Jewish people worldwide.
Amidst the current climate of increased antisemitic violence wherein myriad Jewish and Israeli individuals are physically harmed in both New York and across the globe, coupled with Mr. Doe’s public statements of IDF service, Wigdor believes his claims place him in significant danger. As such, we concurrently filed a motion to allow Mr. Doe to proceed anonymously.
Intel’s allowance of such disturbing social media behavior and retaliation of a former IDF member is inexcusable. We support all employees’ right to a workplace environment free of fear and are committed to holding Intel accountable for perpetuating a hostile work environment.
The complaint may be found here.
Any questions may be directed to attorney Douglas H. Wigdor (dwigdor@wigdorlaw.com) or Director of Marketing Tess Neudeck (tneudeck@wigdorlaw.com).