Cancer doc speaks out on suit against NYU Langone for termination over anti-Hamas posts
Researcher Dr. Benjamin Neel claims his former employer tarnished his reputation after firing him, but reinstalled another doctor who described the Oct. 7 atrocities as ‘liberation’
Reporter at The Times of Israel
NEW YORK — Because of three social media posts, respected cancer biologist Dr. Benjamin Neel claims he went from being a “master scientist” at NYU Langone Health academic medical center to persona non grata.
Now, Neel is bringing a lawsuit against the New York City hospital which first suspended him, then fired him for allegedly violating its social media policy.
According to the complaint, NYU Langone Health “unceremoniously dumped Dr. Neel, a renowned scientist who spent a forty-year career at the forefront of the battle against cancer, based on tweets from his social media account, which challenged those individuals who were publicly celebrating the death of innocent people in Israel.”
Neel, who is Jewish, told The Times of Israel that his life has been upended since he sued the hospital last November for wrongful termination, retaliation and applying double standards. He is seeking $500,000 in damages.
“It’s been a Kafkaesque hellscape; a little over two weeks before the termination, dean and CEO Robert L. Grossman [was] singing my praises for transforming the cancer center and being an extremely rigorous and accomplished scientist whose work had led to cancer drugs in clinical trials,” Neel, 68, said in a Zoom interview from his home.
“Then, the same leadership unceremoniously terminated me as center director, rendered me a virtual non-person at NYU, and is attempting to destroy my reputation and my career. To put it mildly, it’s been extremely stressful in multiple ways, emotionally, physically, socially and professionally,” he said.
Steve Ritea, NYU Langone Health’s senior director of media relations, declined to comment on the matter citing pending litigation. A February The New York Times article cited a legal filing from January in which NYU’s medical school said Neel had “exercised extremely poor judgment by insidiously sharing racially and ethnically offensive posts on social media without regard for the potential impact on others.”
‘A Kafkaesque hellscape’
The issue started when Neel reposted political cartoons about the Israel-Hamas war on his private X (formerly Twitter) account.
Neel said the cartoons called out those celebrating the October 7 Hamas-led terror onslaught in southern Israel and questioned whether a two-state solution remained possible under Hamas leadership. The massacre saw 1,200 people, most of them civilians, brutally butchered, and another 253 abducted to the Gaza Strip.
One of Neel’s posts showed protestors holding signs reading, “I heart Hamas,” and “Beheading is resistance.” He also reposted a photograph of a Brooklyn protest where a demonstrator waved a flag symbolizing both LGBTQ+ rights and Palestine with the comment: “An oxymoron.” Another cartoon he reposted showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiating with a member of Hamas who is holding a paper that says: “Demands — death to all Jews.”
Neil was suspended on October 31 and then fired on November 10.
The complaint also alleges that the hospital displayed a double standard when it fired Neel.
Dr. Zaki Masoud, a resident at NYU Langone Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, Long Island, was suspended the same week as Neel for posting a message on Instagram celebrating Hamas’s atrocities as “liberation,” “revolution” and “decolonization.”
Yet, while the hospital ultimately fired Neel, Masoud was reportedly reinstated.
Masoud couldn’t be reached for comment.
According to Neel’s complaint, NYU Langone reinstated Masoud “surreptitiously” over fears of a “pro-Palestinian backlash” and because of a petition that garnered more than 99,000 signatures.
Zaki Masoud is a physician at NYU Langone Winthrop Hospital.
On October 7th, after Hamas terrorists murdered 1300+ people in Israel, raped young women, beheaded babies, and burned the elderly alive, Dr. Masoud took to Instagram and labeled this massacre a "liberation.… pic.twitter.com/czExJihYZR
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 27, 2023
Litigation limbo
Meanwhile, as Neel’s lawsuit winds its way through the court, he remains a tenured professor at NYU’s medical school. He was, however, fired from his job as the director of NYU’s cancer center, according to the November 10 termination letter. Additionally, the termination impacted his lab, as NYU Langone Health cut $500,000 of lab support.
All of this has negatively affected his professional prospects, Neel said.
“Because they tarnished my reputation, I lost two consulting jobs and was told by a famous colleague from a major center in Boston that I was ‘radioactive,’” Neel said.
Neel said that he’s concerned about the effect on his lab staff: “I am sure that they are worried that another ax will fall. But I can’t compliment them enough for their professionalism and support of each other, me and the lab.”
According to the complaint, NYU not only wrongfully terminated Neel, but it also retaliated against him by launching an investigation into whether he committed academic misconduct in a 2019 research paper. Neel, who had a supervisory role on the paper in question, was listed as co-author. Neel claims he brought those concerns to NYU’s attention when they first arose in early 2023, adding that it was his colleague who had conducted the research and prepared the data.
Meanwhile, as he scrambles to piece his professional life together, Neel said he stands by the content of those three posts.
“I think the only moral position is to challenge those who celebrate the murder, rape, mutilation, defilement, and kidnapping of innocent Israeli citizens — and American and other citizens, including Muslims,” Neel said.
