NJ Manager at Ben & Jerry’s Parent Company Fired for Observing Jewish Holidays

Edited by: TJVNews.com

When it comes to offending Jews, it appears that the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand and the company that owns it, Unilever, take first prize in the anti-Semitism category.

In addition to their now infamous boycott of legitimate parts of Israel, Unilever just terminated a Jewish employee of the company because he wanted to take off work on the Rosh HaShana holiday, as was reported by the NY Post.

The employee, David Rosenbaum, 55, is a general manager at the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey headquarters of Unilever, according to the Post report. In a lawsuit he filed Thursday in Bergen County, Rosenbaum said he told his boss, Frank Alfano that in the fall of 2019 he had planned to take some days off in observance of the Jewish holidays, as was reported by the NY Post.

The court papers allege that Alfano told Rosenbaum that he was not granted permission to take off for Rosh HaShana and probably not Yom Kippur as well.

Rosenbaum was distressed upon hearing this news and the filing claims that he told Alfano that he was mandated by his religious precepts not to work on those days. Alfano would not make accommodations for Rosenbaum and insisted that he had to work those days.

Despite his boss’ refusal to compromise with him, Rosenbaum, a Washington Township resident did not appear for work on the days he had planned to take off, according to the Post report. On September 30, 2019, Rosenbaum sent an e-mail to the top brass at Unilever in which he explained what Alfano told him when he requested time off to observe the Jewish holidays. He told them that Alfano’s response had violated the law, as was reported by the Post.

The lawsuit claims that the attorney representing Unilever told Rosenbaum that she would speak with their human resources department.

Rosenbaum was terminated over the phone on October 1^st “since he had not come into work on Rosh Hashana ” according to the court documents.

There had been problems between Rosenbaum and Alfonso prior to the request being made by Rosenbaum to take off a few days for his religious observance. In August of 2019, Rosenbaum had filed a complaint against Alfano for allegedly touching him, propositioning him and asking him to lend him money, according to court filings.

Part of Rosenbaum’s job at Unilever was working in tandem with the marketing team at Ben & Jerry’s to organize sales events, as was reported by the Post. In the lawsuit, Rosenbaum alleged that his situation is “further evidence of Unilever’s anti-Semitism, which was demonstrated in July 2021, when Unilever’s subsidiary, Ben & Jerry’s, began an illegal boycott of Israel by refusing to sell its ice cream there.”

The court filings also allege that this is “despite the fact that it continues to sell ice cream in some of the most repressive countries in the world, as was reported by the NY Post..

Ben & Jerry’s has been in the center of controversy as of late due to their July announcement that they would no longer be selling ice cream in the liberated lands of Judea and Samaria. In a statement released to the media, the company said: “We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).”

The move drew ire of many Jewish organizations and justified critiques from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and former PM Benjamin Netanyahu ho called Ben & Jerry’s decision anti-Semitic.

Rosenbaum’s attorney Cindy Salvo told the Post that her client is currently unemployed and is finding it difficult to acquire new employment during the pandemic.

TJV News has covered theBen and Jerry’s saga extensively. Dozens of links are below:

https://tjvnews.com/2021/08/protest-to-end-jew-hatred-at-ben-jerrys-with-a-march-to-ben-jerrys-nyc/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/08/times-square-ben-jerrys-location-closes-early-hiding-in-shame-following-protest-to-endjewhatred-at-ben-jerrys-and-parent-company-unilever/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/07/long-island-town-takes-action-against-ben-jerrys/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/06/ben-jerrys-driven-from-twitter-by-israel-hating-mob/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/07/israelis-create-homegrown-ben-jerrys-brand-in-judea-samaria/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/07/israel-reacts-judea-samaria-will-exist-way-after-ben-jerrys-melts/

https://tjvnews.com/2018/11/ben-jerrys-israeli-arm-forgoes-new-anti-trump-flavor/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/07/ben-jerrys-immoral-assault-on-israels-zionism/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/07/nyc-based-gristedes-supermarkets-to-reduce-space-for-ben-jerrys-products/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/08/bnai-brith-canada-pens-letter-calling-on-grocery-stores-to-drop-ben-jerrys/

https://tjvnews.com/2021/07/israeli-lawmakers-urge-ben-jerrys-to-drop-settlement-ban/