A former Jewish employee of Unilever filed a lawsuit against the conglomerate Thursday for allegedly firing him for taking days off from work during Rosh Hashana, according to the New York Post.
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Court papers said the incident occurred in 2019, when David Rosenbaum – a general manager at Unilever's headquarters in New Jersey – alerted his boss, Frank Alfano, that he planned to take several days off for the High Holidays in the fall, with Alfano allegedly replying "he could not take off for Rosh Hashana and probably not for Yom Kippur as well."
Rosenbaum attempted to explain that religion required him to not work on those days but to no avail. He then proceeded to take the time off anyway and emailed higher-ups on Sept. 30, 2019 – on Rosh Hashana eve – explaining how Alfano's actions went against the law. In reply, a Unilever lawyer merely promised to speak with Human Resources, according to the claims.
The next day, Rosenbaum was fired over the phone for failing to show up at work. The lawsuit also claimed that in a prior incident, Alfano retaliated against Rosenbaum for a complaint he made earlier that year after Alfano allegedly touched him, propositioned him, and asked to lend him money.
Rosenbaum alleged his situation is "further evidence of Unilever's antisemitism, which was demonstrated in July 2021, when Unilever's subsidiary, Ben & Jerry's, began an illegal boycott of Israel by refusing to sell its ice cream there," the suit claims.
The ice cream conglomerate announced it would no longer sell its products in Judea and Samaria after 2022. The lawsuit claimed the move was inconsistent as Ben & Jerry's continues to sell its ice cream in countries that consistently violate human rights.
Rosenbaum's attorney, Cindy Salvo, told the New York Post that her still-unemployed client has had a hard time finding a job during the pandemic.
According to Salvo, it was bad enough that Alfano did not let Rosenbaum take the time off, but what is even worse is that the upper-level management did nothing about it after receiving his email. "They didn't engage in any interactive process," she said.
Returning Israel Hayom's request for comment, Unilever said it "strongly rejects the claims and has a zero-tolerance policy against antisemitism or any other form of discrimination in the workplace."
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