The Swedish Labor Court determined that there was no legal justification for the firing of a Jewish neurosurgeon in a drawn-out instance of deeply ingrained antisemitism targeting the surgeon at the Karolinska University Hospital near Stockholm, Sweden.
The Court’s ruling confirms the previously suspected fact that the Jewish physician was wrongfully fired from his job.
“Dr. Svensson,” a pseudonym to protect the doctor’s identity, was fired last year after complaining for years about pervasive antisemitism at the Karolinska.
His termination was the culmination of a series of backlash that included lowering his salary position reassignments.
The case resulted in two stinging legal defeats for the management of the medical center.
The Lawfare Project, a New York City-based NGO, retained local counsel for Dr. Svensson to sue the hospital, addressing the discrimination and retaliation for Dr. Svensson’s complaints.
After this case was filed in the District Court, the Swedish Medical Association filed a separate action in Labor Court on behalf of Dr. Svensson, specifically addressing his wrongful termination.
“The Karolinska’s admission that it wrongfully fired a Jewish doctor who complained about the antisemitism he was repeatedly subjected to is stunning,” Gerard Filitti, The Lawfare Project’s Senior Counsel, said. “It is highly unusual for a defendant to admit that it had no valid legal reason to fire an employee. This is the essence of wrongful discharge, and the Karolinska’s admission draws a straight line between the discrimination targeting Dr. Svensson, and the unlawful retaliation he experienced when he reported it.”
