New Jersey Court Rejects FDU’s Bid to Dismiss Landmark Antisemitism Lawsuit
A New Jersey judge denied Fairleigh Dickinson University's motion to dismiss an antisemitism lawsuit by a Jewish chaplain, rejecting the university's use of a recent MIT decision as legal cover
In a major legal victory announced just this week, a New Jersey Superior Court judge has denied Fairleigh Dickinson University’s (FDU) motion to dismiss a landmark antisemitism lawsuit brought by Ira Jaskoll, a Jewish chaplain and adjunct professor at the private New Jersey university, allowing the religious discrimination case to proceed to discovery.
According to Mark Goldfeder, legal scholar and director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center representing the plaintiff, the court explicitly rejected the university’s attempt to use a recent First Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving MIT as a shield against liability for antisemitic conduct.
The Origins of the Dispute
The lawsuit stems from an incident that occurred in November 2023, when FDU hosted an event titled “Palestine: A Teach-In.” According to the complaint filed by Jaskoll and his legal team at the Roseland firm Mazie Slater Katz Freeman, the event featured inflammatory rhetoric about Israel. The promotional materials depicted Israel covered entirely by a Palestinian flag, which the lawsuit characterizes as an antisemitic dog whistle, and included a speaker from the Palestinian American Community Center of New Jersey who accused Israel of committing genocide and operating an apartheid state.
When Jaskoll, who served as a volunteer chaplain in FDU’s Division of Student Affairs-Office Campus Ministries, respectfully objected to the content during the event, stating that the rhetoric discriminated against Jewish identity, he was asked to leave.
In the weeks that followed, university officials suspended him from his chaplaincy position indefinitely. Most troublingly, the university conditioned his reinstatement on issuing an apology for his opposition to the antisemitic content, a demand that effectively has kept him suspended for over a year.
Rejecting the MIT Defense
The university’s attempt to use the First Circuit’s MIT decision as legal cover is particularly noteworthy. By rejecting this argument, the New Jersey court has signaled that antisemitic conduct cannot simply hide behind claims of academic freedom or protected political speech.
“Thank God this court became the first to reject the First Circuit’s flawed, nonprecedential reasoning and call antisemitism what it is: Hateful, wrong, and potentially unlawful, even when it hides behind the veil of ‘anti-Zionism,’” Goldfeder told Belaaz in an exclusive statement.
Moving Forward
With the dismissal bid rejected, the litigation now moves into the evidence-gathering phase, with both sides collecting documents and taking sworn depositions. The lawsuit, which also names FDU President Michael J. Avaltroni, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Union Uchenna Baker, and Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs S. Craig Mourton as defendants, seeks punitive and exemplary damages, along with attorney fees.