Jewish Educator in Philadelphia Sues School District Over Pro-Palestine Signs
Plus, Donald Trump and the Eagles. And are you OK with dying at 75? One Philly doctor is.
A Philadelphia teacher has filed a federal lawsuit over pro-Palestine signage at school district headquarters (Image via court exhibit)
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Jewish Educator in Philadelphia Sues School District Over Pro-Palestine Signs
Heather Mizrachi has been working for the Philadelphia School District in a variety of roles since 2017. She’s Jewish and of Israeli descent, and has family living in Israel. Currently, Mizrachi serves as a curriculum specialist. She focuses on multilingual curriculum and programs in her office at district headquarters on Broad Street.
In a lawsuit Mizrachi just filed against the district in Philadelphia federal court, Mizrachi maintains that her work life as a Jewish person has been hell since soon after the attacks of October 7, 2023.
In the court complaint, Mizrachi says that she “has been forced to endure conditions that, by any objective measure, are grossly offensive, severe, and pervasive, including, among many other things, being forced to look at images that advocate for the violent destruction of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
Those images in question include this sign, depicted in the lawsuit:
She alleges that signs such as these have been hanging in central locations at school district headquarters. They are impossible for her to avoid. And they are antisemitic, argues the lawsuit. The lawsuit also alleges that some of the people she works closely with have been posting antisemitic and sometimes violent messages on social media.
Mizrachi claims that she has been formally complaining to the district since December 2023, but that the district has done nothing to resolve the problem. She says she told one district official that the district is “supposed to be a safe place for all, but I guess that means everyone except people like me.”
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, accuses the district of two counts of creating a hostile work environment, one over her religion and one over her national origin.
The district does not comment on pending litigation.
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