New Jersey: Non-Jew’s anti-Semitism lawsuit can proceed

You don’t have to be Jewish to sue over anti-Semitism, a New Jersey court has ruled.

The decision, issued last week, will allow a non-Jewish trucker to pursue civil charges against his former employers, who allegedly subjected him to a “daily . . . barrage of anti-Semitic insults,” some of which he recorded and presented in court.

Myron Cowher, a former employee at Carson & Roberts Site Construction & Engineering in Lafayette, New Jersey, wants to sue his old bosses, whose lawyers describe the office talk as “joking, locker room banter.” A lower court had ruled that Cowher couldn’t pursue his case because he wasn’t Jewish, and therefore couldn’t be the victim of anti-Semitism.

He had become the target of the Jewish “jokes” after he and his wife claimed part of the winnings from a Super Bowl bet, which his supervisors saw as “conforming to the stereotype of Jews as avaricious,” according to the appellate court judgment.

One of the supervisors later programmed his cell phone to play “Hava Nagila” each time he received a call from Cowher.

While he’s won the latest round, Cowher hasn’t come out of the case unscathed, with his opponents accusing him of embarrassingly juvenile behavior, as well as directing anti-Italian and -fat comments at co-workers.

Cowher’s ex-employees can appeal the new ruling. If they choose not to, the case will advance to a civil trial.