A Jewish man has alleged that a company fired him because he refused to draft a Black Lives Matter (BLM) press release due to BLM’s stance on Israel.
City News Service reported in September that the man, Dani Kollin, filed a lawsuit against the electronics manufacturing company Belkin International Inc. in Playa Vista. According to the suit, Kollin, who worked as a creative director for Belkin from August 2019 to July 2020, offered to edit the company’s press release advocating for people to donate to BLM, but he objected to writing the first draft. Although Kollin supports protesting police racism, he didn’t want to draft the press release because the BLM platform has described the Israeli government’s policies toward the Palestinians as “genocidal.”
“When he told this to his superior, he got resistance,” the suit stated.
Kollin was apparently referencing the 2016 platform from the Movement for Black Lives, which is a coalition for pro-BLM organizations. The platform at the time accused Israel of apartheid, expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and accused Israel of genocide, according to Tablet Magazine. In August 2020, a summary of the new Movement for Black Lives platform obtained by Jewish Telegraphic Agency didn’t mention anything related to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The suit also stated that Kollin was continuously pressured by the company to draft the release and he complained twice to human resources about it. He alleged that his firing was retaliation over his complaints and was the result of anti-Semitism.
He alleged that his firing was retaliation over his complaints and was the result of anti-Semitism.
Additionally, Kollin alleged that Belkin didn’t promote an Asian woman because she worked on the same company team as a Black woman and Belkin feared that the Black woman would have sued the company if the Asian woman was promoted over her.
“[Belkin] wanted to avoid legal fees at the expense of the careers of two women of color,” the suit stated.
Ziporah Reich, Director of Litigation at The Lawfare Project, said in a statement to the Journal, “If an employee can prove that he was terminated in retaliation for complaints he made about the employer engaging in discrimination, the employer could be in violation of a number of federal and state anti-retaliation laws or whistle blower statutes. Similarly, if the employee can demonstrate that his termination was connected to his refusal to participate in an activity that was contrary to his political beliefs, that could also amount to a violation of law. California is one of a handful of states that prohibits employers from taking action against their employees for political activities or beliefs.”
Jen Wei Warren, Vice President of Global Communications for Belkin, said in a statement to the Journal that Belkin doesn’t comment on pending litigation but the company denies Kollin’s allegations “and will vigorously defend itself. Belkin is proud of its workplace values and its people.”
