A New York City taxpayer-funded legal aid group condemned for a 2014 “kill the NYPD” rap video and a 2021 director’s email blasting Israel and cops have now been forced to issue an apology and a $170,000 settlement for alleged discrimination against a Jewish staffer, The Post has learned.
“You may remember that I was called a racist, a colonizer and a karen [slang for entitled white person]and I was told that I was worse than the dirt under your feet and that my children were murderers,” former Bronx Defenders staffer Debbie Jonas said in an email Wednesday to the politically charged legal assistance group’s employees informing them about the settlement.
Jonas, a Zionist Jew, has children with dual citizenship in Israel and the US who have served in Israel’s Defense Forces.
“I was cursed and badred until I could no longer stand the hostility,” said Jonas, who worked at Bronx Defenders for eight years.
While Bronx Defenders admitted to no lawful wrongdoing in the confidential settlement, its executive director, Justine Olderman, issued a heartfelt apology and the firm has agreed to provide anti-Semitism training to all employees provided by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Jonas praised Olderman’s “courage” and “humility” for issuing the “since” apology.
She said after subtracting legal expenses, she will donate a total of $40,000 to charities in Israel: Shurst Hadin, Tobeka, Yad L’isha, Technoda and Bet Izzy Shapiro.
“Of course, this represents a great victory in the effort to combat Jew-hatred,” said Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, who took up Jonas’ cause.
