Dive Brief:
- On June 4, Rep. Noah Arbit introduced an amendment in the Michigan legislature to codify bans on antisemitism in employment, housing and education.
- The Michigan Antisemitism Protection Act, also known as HB 4548, would be incorporated into the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
- The existing legislation bans employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color and national origin, among other protected classes; this newly introduced amendment would add “ethnicity” to this group of identities.
Dive Insight:
Specifically, HB 4548 outlines how protecting ethnicity includes but is not limited to antisemitism, which it defines as “hatred of Jews” and “severe disparagement of Jews or Jewish culture.”
Moreover, this state law amendment bans “mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective,” including myths about “world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government, or other societal institutions.”
The U.S. and the world at large saw an uptick in antisemitism due to conspiracy theorists blaming COVID-19 on Jewish people.
The bill also touches on a common point of contention these days: It bars people from “accusing Jews, whether singularly or collectively, as being more loyal to Israel.” Likewise, the amendment bans people from “demanding a behavior of the State of Israel that is not expected or demanded of other democratic nations” or from blaming Jews for Israel’s actions.
This is pertinent to the workplace especially given the firing or punishment of certain workers for pro-Palestinian stances expressed on social media. Time will tell how, if this bill is passed, this law will be enforced in the state of Michigan.
Overall, workplace experts have advocated for Jewish workers in two ways: DEI experts have highlighted the distinct struggles of religious minorities, like Jewish people, in inclusion efforts, and employment lawyers have emphasized the compliance risk of religious discrimination, including antisemitism.
On a federal level, anti-religious bias — and explicitly bias against Jews and Christians — is an increasing enforcement priority of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, while other kinds of discrimination fall by the wayside.
