German company fires worker for ‘F*** You Israel’ Facebook post

The employer argued that it cannot identify an anti-Semitic view, and added that the anti-Israel comments were published 18 months ago.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Facebook (photo credit: REUTERS)
Facebook
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The German multinational company Hasco discharged a group leader who denigrated Israel and Judaism on his Facebook page.
Christoph Ehrlich, a managing director of the firm, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the 35-year-old German Muslim trade union member was dismissed from his job in the global supplier tool and mold-making equipment company, which is located in the city of Lüdenscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia state.
“The appropriate actions were taken. The group leader is no longer a member of our company. We will in the future speak out against every form of racism or racist informed statements,” Ehrlich said.
The Post reported on the case during the first week of June and asked Hasco about its defense of the employee’s anti-Semitic statements.
The team leader crossed out a Star of David and wrote, “F*** You Israel,” on his Facebook page. The posting remained on his Facebook page for more than a year.
Michael Mey, a lawyer for the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), wrote the Post by email on Wednesday that “the personnel division of Hasco informed the works council that the group leader’s employment will end on September 30.”
Mey was slated to argue on behalf of the works council that the Hasco should rescind its promotion of the group leader.
Dr. Shimon Samuels, the director for International Relations for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called in June for the group leader to be sacked, “to ensure that he does not continue to infect his fellow workers in the path of hate.”
The company’s works council argued that the employee should not be promoted, because his anti-Semitic statements are not protected free speech.
The trade union said he attacked not only the State of Israel but the Jewish religion.
The employer argued that it cannot identify an anti-Semitic view, and added that the anti-Israel comments were published 18 months ago.
The man previously sought to a remove Christian crosses from his co-workers’ work stations because they injured his personal feelings. The local works council, as well as DGB, argued his promotion would disrupt “industrial peace” in the company.