Unilever, the parent company for Ben & Jerry’s, allegedly fired a Jewish employee in 2019 because he wanted to take the High Holy Days off, according to a lawsuit filed against the company.
The New York Post reported on September 23 that the lawsuit alleges that David Rosenbaum, general manager of Unilever’s United States headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, told his boss, Frank Alfano, that he was going to take Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur off. But Alfano would not let him do so, despite Rosenbaum’s insistence that working during the High Holy Days would violate his religious beliefs. Rosenbaum took Rosh Hashanah off anyway and sent an email to the executives at Unilever explaining the situation; the only response came from a Unilever lawyer saying she would talk to Human Resources about it.
The next day, Alfano fired Rosenbaum for taking Rosh Hashanah off; Rosenbaum has remained jobless ever since, as the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for him to find a new job. He told the Post that he is “shocked, surprised and deeply saddened that this could happen in this day and age.”
Cindy Salvo, Rosenbaum’s attorney, told the Post: “It’s not like they have no other people to handle things. They didn’t give an explanation and if they had — it wouldn’t have been adequate anyway.”
The lawsuit connected Rosenbaum’s firing to Ben & Jerry’s July 19 decision to cease business operations in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” saying that both are “evidence of Unilever’s anti-Semitism” and noted that Ben & Jerry’s “continues to sell ice cream in some of the most repressive countries in the world.”
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Alfano had previously “retaliated against Rosenbaum for an August 2019 complaint Rosenbaum made after Alfano allegedly touched him, propositioned him and asked Rosenbaum to lend him money.”
Stop Antisemitism tweeted out a screenshot of the Post story and noted that the watchdog group had given Unilever an “F” grade in its August 10 report on how U.S. corporations have handled antisemitism. “These bigots have no shame,” Stop Antisemitism wrote.
#Unilever just fired a Jewish man for taking off time to celebrate Rosh Hashanah!
Our “Antisemitism in Corporate America” gave Unilever an “F” – and rightfully so!
These bigots have no shame. https://t.co/KN3Wx04YIN pic.twitter.com/JPVZSpZR0U
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 26, 2021
“I guess not just @benandjerrys has a problem with Jews, their parent company @unilever does also!” human rights activist Emily Schrader tweeted.
I guess not just @benandjerrys has a problem with Jews, their parent company @unilever does also!https://t.co/NCwrXB1LQw
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) September 24, 2021
Rabbi Elchanan Poupko, President of the EITAN-The American Israeli Jewish Network, also tweeted that Unilever CEO Alan Jope has claimed that the company stands against antisemitism, and “the next thing you know a #Jewish man is fired for taking off on #roshhashanah It is time for @Unilever to end of the hate, antisemitism, and religious persecution.”
@alanjope & @Unilever told @Daroff & @JGreenblattADL they oppose antisemitism.
The next thing you know a #Jewish man is fired for taking off on #roshhashanah
It is time for @Unilever to end of the hate, antisemitism, and religious persecution. pic.twitter.com/Uxmf0RBXCz
— Rabbi E. Poupko- Stands With #IranProtests 💪 (@RabbiPoupko) September 26, 2021
UPDATE: Unilever said in a statement to the Journal, “Unilever strongly refutes these allegations and has a zero tolerance policy on antisemitism or any form of discrimination in the workplace.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.