Professor Sues Kingsborough, Alleging ‘Systemic Anti-Semitism’ By College Administrators

A Kingsborough Community College professor has filed a lawsuit accusing top administrators of creating an culture of “systemic anti-Semitism” in which Jewish faculty were openly harassed and discriminated against.

The lawsuit, first reported by the Algemeiner, was filed in February by Professor Jeffrey Lax, chairman of the Business Department. Lax, who is Orthodox Jewish, describes a “pervasively hostile work environment” in which officials ignored his complaints about “constant discrimination based on his religion” and took “extraordinary measures” to prevent him from receiving promotions.

The lawsuit names Stuart Suss, Kingsborough’s former vice president for academic affairs and provost, as a co-defendant. Suss openly made offensive remarks about Lax’s religion, including mocking religious head coverings worn by Jewish faculty, ridiculing people for keeping kosher, expressing support for suicide bombers targeting Jews, and referred to Jews as “the Devil,” according to the complaint.

Suss also tried to block Jewish educators from being hired or promoted at Kingsborough. The hostility was so pervasive, the lawsuit alleges, that prospective hires were advised to remove religious head coverings and any other symbols of their religion before meeting with Suss. In one instance, Lax claims administrators discouraged a professor from applying to Kingsborough because “there are too many Jews already.”

In a statement sent to the Algemeiner, Kingsborough’s President Farley Herzek, called the allegations “baseless and entirely without merit.”

“Discrimination and acts of bigotry of any kind are in complete violation of the values we stand for at Kingsborough Community College,” he said.

The lawsuit come amid a wave of accusations of anti-Semitism at the City University of New York, the public college system that includes Kingsborough. In response, several elected officials have proposed legislation to encourage law enforcement to more aggressively pursue hate crimes at CUNY campuses.

The Lawfare Project, a non profit legal think tank that is representing Lax in his complaint against Kingsborough, told the Algameiner that “faculty and students victimized by antisemitic conduct have had no place to turn for legal representation.”

“We have been hearing about horrific incidents at CUNY — where Jewish professors and students have been targeted in the most vicious ways — for too long,” Lawfare Project director Brooke Goldstein said in a statement sent to the Algameiner.

Lax’s lawsuit alleges discrimination at Kingsborough significantly reduced the number of Jewish faculty on campus and the college often hired or promoted non-Jewish candidates rather than Jewish educators favored by faculty. Lax’s lawsuit describes one instance in which Suss overruled a unanimous decision by a faculty committee to hire a Jewish candidate.

Lax also claims to have had difficulty obtaining pay raises and promotions at Kingsborough. (He did eventually get tenured and receive several promotions, according to the lawsuit.) When he complained to college administrators, the discrimination and harassment intensified, according to the complaint.

The atmosphere was so pervasive, Lax alleges, that when one top administrator received a complaint about discrimination, rather than address the situation, he responded: “I know.”

Update [March 29, 3:20pm]: In response to our article, Kingsborough asked us to publish the full statement from the college president:

Based on my knowledge of the review of this claim, it is baseless and entirely without merit. Discrimination and acts of bigotry of any kind are in complete violation of the values we stand for at Kingsborough Community College.

As the son of a Holocaust survivor who has lived with first-hand accounts of the horror of anti-Semitism, I have worked tirelessly to break down the barriers that contribute to such discriminatory practices and beliefs.

For the bulk of my career in California, I was dedicated to this important work, also serving as the President of the Board of Long Beach Hillel in Long Beach, California whose mission includes fostering communication among all faiths on college campuses.

Since arriving at Kingsborough, I have encouraged the continued open dialog among our diverse campus community. To that end, we have enhanced this work with a proposed Multicultural Student Center, which does just that….encourage people of all faiths to come together and learn from each other.

There will never be a place for bigotry, bias, and anti-Semitism to thrive on our campus.