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- An Intel executive has sued, saying he was fired for complaining about a pro-Hamas boss.
- He said his boss posted "horrific and troubling" praise of the deaths of Israelis and soldiers.
- The unnamed plaintiff, fired in April, is a former Israeli soldier now living in New York City.
An engineering executive who has served as an Israeli soldier says in a new federal lawsuit that he was fired from his job at Intel in April for complaining about his boss' "horrific and troubling" pro-Hamas social media posts.
A dozen of the X posts "liked" by the boss are included in the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Tuesday. They include illustrations of members of the terror group strangling and standing on the neck of Israeli soldiers. One post praises the burning of buildings with Israeli soldiers inside.
"Bombing a building in which 5 Zionist soldiers were holed up and they were sent to hell," reads a December post that the lawsuit says was liked by the supervisor, named in the suit as Alaa Badr, a vice president in Seattle.
Badr did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US District Court Southern District of New York
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an unnamed former executive, described in the suit as an Israeli Jewish emigre and veteran of the Israeli Defense Force now living in New York City.
He says in the 47-page complaint that Badr began openly supporting Hamas and the destruction of Israel soon after the October 7, 2023 invasion.
"To be clear, Badr did not simply sympathize with the plight of innocent Gazans stuck in the middle of Hamas and Israel," said the lawsuit, filed by attorney Douglas Wigdor of Wigdor LLP.
"Rather, he openly advocated for and celebrated the murder of Israelis like John Doe and the members of his family," who are still in Israel, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiff "nearly lost his entire family to a missile strike by Hamas" earlier this year, and they had to evacuate their home, the lawsuit said.
US District Court Southern District of New York
The plaintiff was ordered to begin working for Badr in late January, and he immediately complained about Badr's posts through an intermediary to Intel's human resources department. He spoke directly with human resources in February, the lawsuit said.
Badr took down his X account in March, and the plaintiff — described in the lawsuit as "one of Intel's top employees" was dismissed from his position in early April. He was later reassigned to another position, but his pay was reduced, and his retention bonus was canceled, the suit said.
US District Court Southern District of New York
"John Doe, an Israeli IDF veteran, was made to report to a man that would celebrate the death of his community, the death of his family, and frankly, the death of John Doe," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. An Intel spokesperson said the company does not comment on ongoing litigation, adding, "As a company, we have a longtime culture of diversity and inclusion, and we do not tolerate hate speech of any kind, as outlined in our code of conduct."
"While the rise in antisemitism around the world is alarming, it is inexcusable that Intel not only condones this type of behavior but retaliated against a former member of the Israel Defense Force for complaining about deeply disturbing tropes that were posted on social media by his boss," Wigdor said in a press statement Tuesday.