The Swedish Medical Association is suing Karolinska University Hospital over the dismissal of a Jewish doctor who claims he was discriminated against and let go by the hospital because of his Jewish heritage.
The World Zionist Organization is supporting the doctor and says that his dismissal was due to antisemitism.
The case began in 2018, when the doctor began stating that he was suffering harassment as a result of his Jewish identity, The doctor filed a lawsuit against the hospital over this harassment in October, 2021. The hospital subsequently fired the doctor, despite the fact that he is a well-known and experienced physician in his field of practice.
According to the lawsuit, the doctor and other Jewish employees were subject to antisemitic harassment on Facebook, including jokes about his nose, and was told he "whined like a Jew," according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
The lawsuit also alleges that the doctor was prevented from carrying out his research, reassigned, and given a lower salary than less qualified colleagues solely because of his Jewish identity.
The doctor further claimed that the harassment and antisemitism intensified after he began complaining as hospital staff began taking revenge on him, culminating in his dismissal.
The hospital has claimed that the doctor's employment was terminated after he refused to follow the instructions of the hospital management for an extended period, but the Swedish Medical Association has found grounds to believe that the doctor was not dismissed in good faith and has filed a motion on his behalf asking that his dismissal be invalidated and that he be given compensation.
A source in the World Zionist Organization told Ynet that the case is "a new Dreyfus affair," referring to the notorious antisemitic incident in the late 19th century in which a Jewish officer in the French military was falsely accused and wrongfully convicted of spying for Germany.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center included Karolinska University Hospital in its list of the top 10 worst incidents of antisemitism in 2018 over the harassment of three Jewish physicians.