Intel is sued by Jewish fired employee over ex-supervisor's alleged antisemitism

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Jewish former employee of Intel sued the chipmaker on Tuesday, saying he was fired after complaining that the senior executive he reported to openly celebrated antisemitism, Hamas and terrorism against Israel.

The plaintiff, a former vice president of engineering using the pseudonym John Doe, said Intel fired him on April 2 in a purported cost-cutting move barely two months after assigning him to report to Alaa Badr, vice president of customer success.

Intel declined to comment on the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, saying it does not discuss pending litigation.

"We have a longtime culture of diversity and inclusion and we do not tolerate hate speech," it added.

Doe, a former Israel Defense Forces soldier, said he had expressed discomfort working for Badr, citing the Egyptian native's retweeting and "liking" of anti-Israel online posts, including posts cheering deaths of Israelis and IDF soldiers.

The plaintiff also said Badr asked him whether other Intel employees were Israeli, and upon being told yes complained there were "so many Israeli employees in our company." Doe said his replacement also openly espoused anti-Israel sentiments.

Badr and his supervisor are also defendants.

"It is inexcusable that Intel not only condones this type of behavior but retaliated against a former (IDF soldier) for complaining about deeply disturbing tropes that were posted on social media by his boss," Doe's lawyer Doug Wigdor said in a statement. "This must stop."

Doe is seeking to recoup lost pay and unspecified damages for violations of federal civil rights law and New York state and city human rights laws.

He wants court permission to sue anonymously, saying the lawsuit and his IDF service put him at "significant danger of being subjected to harassment, threats, and physical violence."

Doe said he joined Intel in New York City after the Santa Clara, California-based company bought the Israeli startup where he worked. His lawyers declined to identify the startup.

The complaint also highlighted Intel's business ties to Israel and that the company's first hire was Andrew Grove, a Hungarian-born Jew who later became chief executive and Time magazine's Man of the Year.

The case is Doe v Intel Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-06117.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)