Can't Call Someone a Jewish Fag
A gay Jewish man's discrimination lawsuit against the Salvation Army can keep marching on, a Manhattan judge has ruled.
In a decision made public yesterday, state Supreme Court Justice Richard Braun denied the Christian charitable organization's bid to throw out Zachary Logan's sexual- and religious-discrimination suit against it.
"Invidious discrimination, including by religious institutions, has no place in our society. If the allegations made by [Logan] are true, he should be compensated for defendant's bad acts," Braun wrote in his ruling. "This action will go forward."
Logan's lawsuit says he went to work for the Salvation Army as a senior caseworker for its World Trade Center Disaster Relief project in October 2001 – and quickly became a target for his supervisor, Michelle Pallak.
"Ms. Pallak undermined Mr. Logan in the performance of his duties and exhibited hostility towards him because of his sexual orientation and religious background," the suit says.
The Queens man said Pallak told other employees not to listen to him, and accused her of publicly berating him in front of clients.
In December 2001, she allegedly told him, "I wonder how the officers would all feel if they knew they had a Jewish fag working for them?"
Where's the ACLU? Extremist versions of free speech don't extend to calling someone a Jewish fag? How about the right of association and religious belief? Do those count for anything? Just wondering.
Cases like this with the unkind verbiage make the plaintiff sympathetic, but the precedent is disturbing.
