BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF PASCACK PRESS
MONTVALE, N.J.—An attorney for a math teacher discharged from St. Joseph’s Regional High School—alleging his dismissal came after he complained about student anti-Semitic behavior and a swastika etched in his classroom chalkboard—said the Jewish teacher’s dismissal was unlawful retaliation for his complaint and that his school classroom constituted a hostile work environment.
School administrators declined to comment on this article, but in a letter to the school community the school’s president and principal called the claims baseless.
Attorney Justin Santagata’s 15-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, charges the Archdiocese of Newark with three counts, including religious discrimination, unlawful retaliation and a hostile work environment.
In March 2018, a principal at St. Joe’s informed math teacher Jacob Rabinowitz that his contract would not be renewed following Rabinowitz’s written response to a negative evaluation.
In the lawsuit, Rabinowitz alleges the swastika was carved into his chalkboard on the first day of the school year.
In addition, the lawsuit claims students “threw coins at him when his back was turned, in an obvious reference to Jewish stereotypes.”
The suit includes photos of a swastika etched in a chalkboard and charges “desks in the classroom were frequently adorned with swastikas and anti-Jewish language.”
The suit alleges that one German expression written on a desk translated to “six million was just the beginning,” a reference to the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
The lawsuit cites a letter from St. Joe’s Principal Michael Bruno, alleging he “stated in no uncertain terms” that the students’ anti-Semitic and other discriminatory behavior was Rabinowitz’s fault.
The lawsuit notes 15 points of “factual background” underscoring its three charges. Another example of alleged tolerated anti-Semitic behavior included one student acting out a particularly gruesome murder scene from the movie “Schindler’s List.”
“St. Joseph’s administration was aware of at least latent anti-Semitism and other discriminatory animus in Mr. Rabinowitz’s classes,” the lawsuit claims. “Regardless, this anti-Semitism and other discriminatory animus was adopted by St. Joseph’s in its termination of Mr. Rabinowitz.”
The suit comes as local public school districts are reporting anti-Semitic incidents, including swastikas scrawled on Pascack Valley Regional High School District bathrooms and wall plaques and swastikas drawn in shaving cream on a Haworth street.
The student newspaper at Pascack Valley Regional High School reported a swastika was found in a boys bathroom stall at George G. White Middle School in Hillsdale on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
There have been no charges related to anti-Semitic vandalism in local public schools, but local police tell Pascack Press they are investigating the incidents as bias crimes.
Local officials and school administrators have denounced the rise in anti-Semitic incidents. U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who represents the Pascack Valley in Congress, held a conference call last week with federal law enforcement, Anti Defamation League and school administrators to discuss a coordinated response to the incidents.
In their letter, Bruno and school president Barry Donnelly said Rabinowitz’s claims are baseless and said “The school will defend its students, leaders and its reputation as an institution that respects all and lives Christ’s Gospel message of love.”
“In that vein,” they said, “it is important to understand that any acts of hate or intolerance have no place in our world, and especially in our Catholic school.”
“St. Joe’s has always been, and will continue to be, a welcoming educational environment which provides a safe, structured setting where students, through the efforts of a concerned, dedicated, and experiences faculty, are both encouraged and challenged to grow in mind, body, and soul,” they added.
Rabinowitz he suffered intentional, pervasive, and regular harassment over his religion.
The lawsuit claims the school had not removed the swastika from the chalkboard for nearly a month after giving Rabinowitz notice his contract would not be renewed
It also notes that after Rabinowitz asked for a meeting with Bruno to discuss his non-renewal, and to have his attorney present, Bruno declined and told him to take his complaints to the archdiocese’s human resources office.
The suit claims the school’s employment manual does not mention such redress, suggesting that “St. Joseph’s has no control over its school or it was not interested in addressing discrimination or a hostile work environment.”
“In terminating [Rabinowitz], St. Joseph’s both adopted the animus of [Rabinowitz’s] students and doubled down on it,” the suit claims.
Archdiocese spokesperson Jim Goodness told Pascack Press that Rabinowitz, “a first-year teacher,” did not complain to them until he received a “less-than-satisfactory evaluation.”
“It is important to note, however, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reviewed Mr. Rabinowitz’s complaint earlier this year and advised him that it was unable to conclude that the school violated any federal statutes,” Goodness said.
Santagata said the archdiocese likely will file motions addressing the lawsuit’s charges followed by setting a court date.
“Some say kids are just being kids but adults have to step in and say this is not OK and to say that this [alleged students’ behaviors] was the teacher’s fault, no,” the attorney said.
“Once you find out there’s potential problems there, you don’t allow a swastika to remain while you’re disciplining him. It’s shocking that they let that linger so long,” he added.
