The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, one of America’s leading Jewish civil rights groups, notched a major court victory on Thursday which secured a six-figure settlement for a cohort of plaintiffs who alleged that their union fostered a hostile environment against Jewish and Zionist members during an outbreak of pro-Hamas sentiment set off by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.

Per the terms of the agreement, the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA), the union for New York public defenders, will shell out $315,000 in damages while admitting culpability in the events which precipitated legal action. The ALAA also agreed to institute new training courses on the rights of union members and accept a neutral third party’s oversight of other organizational procedures.

“We are seeing an increasing trend in labor union antisemitism, much as we have seen a similar increase on college campuses. In both cases, there is bitter irony,” Brandeis Center chairman and founder Kenneth Marcus said in a statement. “Colleges are supposed to be islands of reason and tolerance. Labor unions are supposed to be advocates for social justice and workplace equality. To find the oldest hatred in such places is deeply antithetical to their mission.”

He added, “This settlement is a landmark in the fight against antisemitism in this sector. I am gratified by this outcome and resolved to support Jewish workers at any union around the country that is seeing this problem arise. Based on what we’re hearing around the country, there will be more of these cases coming.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the ALAA allegedly became a “cornucopia of classic modern antisemitism” in late 2023. Just weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, it passed a virulently anti-Israel resolution which made only a passing reference to Hamas’s atrocities and launched a smear campaign against Jewish members who opposed it. Following that, the union facilitated the filing of disciplinary, “formal charges” against Jewish and Zionist members, attempting to expel them from its ranks.

Antisemitic conduct in the ALAA took on other forms, the complaint alleged. Members commended Hamas’s violence, chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and denied that the terrorist group had murdered women and children. In one incident, someone allegedly asserted that Zionist beliefs would prevent Jewish attorneys from “zealously” defending Muslims, Palestinians, and Arabs and lead them to conspire against them and sabotage their cases.

More Jewish professionals are experiencing workplace discrimination, as previously reported by The Algemeiner.

According to a study released in May by the StandWithUs Data & Analytics Department, antisemitism in academic medical centers located on college campuses is fostering noxious environments which deprive Jewish health-care professionals of their civil right to work in spaces free from discrimination and hate.

Titled “Antisemitism in American Healthcare: The Role of Workplace Environment,” the study includes survey data showing that 62.8 percent of Jewish health-care professionals employed by campus-based medical centers reported experiencing antisemitism, a far higher rate than those working in private practice and community hospitals. Fueling the rise in hate, it added, were repeated failures of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives to educate workers about antisemitism, increasing the likelihood of antisemitic activity.

“Academia today is increasingly cultivating an environment which is hostile to Jews, as well as members of other religious and ethnic groups,” StandWithUs director of data and analytics and study co-author Alexandra Fishman said in a statement. “Academic institutions should be upholding the integrity of scholarship, prioritizing civil discourse, rather than allowing bias or personal agendas to guide academic culture.”

Another study by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that 42 percent of Jewish faculty feel that the top US professional associations for academics, including the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), alienate Jews intentionally if they publicly align with Zionism.

According to the data, 25 percent resort to concealing their Jewishness due to the hostile environment, and another 45 percent say their colleagues lectured them on what does and what does not constitute antisemitism. The report also “reveals alarming patterns of marginalization, leadership failures, and systematic exclusion of Jewish members from their professional communities and academic homes,” the ADL said in a statement.

Some academic bodies, such as the American Philosophical Association and the American Political Science Association, were conferred high ratings based on Jewish faculty not reporting any “major incidents,” while others, including the American Anthropological Association and several others, were labeled as “major concerns” requiring significant remedial action.

“Antisemitic biases in professional academic associations are widespread and reveal a problem that goes far beyond traditional scholarly circles,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “When antisemitism and biased anti-Israel narratives are normalized within these influential spaces, they seep into curricula, research, and public discourse, quietly but profoundly shaping how students and future professionals interpret the world.”

He added, “By assessing these associations and how they are responding, we are delineating a path forward to ensure that academic spaces remain intellectually rigorous, inclusive and free of antisemitism, and accountable to the public they serve.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.