(C) Common Dreams
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A Prestigious Law Firm Rescinded Job Offers for Columbia and Harvard Students, but It May Reverse Itself [1]
['Maureen Farrell', 'More About Maureen Farrell']
Date: 2023-10-17
Davis Polk, one of the country’s most prestigious law firms, recently rescinded employment offers made to three students who the firm believed led organizations at Harvard and Columbia that issued statements blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that left more than 1,400 Israelis dead.
On Tuesday, the firm said it was reconsidering that decision for two of the three students, who fought their dismissals and said they had not authorized the letters, which did not have any individual signatories. The potential reversal highlights the complexities — for both employers and employees — of navigating what has quickly become one of the most emotionally divisive issues in recent decades.
The New York law firm said that two of the students held leadership roles in groups that signed a letter at Columbia and that one was affiliated with the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups, which jointly wrote a letter that held the “Israeli regime” responsible for the deadly violence.
The firm did not identify the students or which two offers it was reconsidering.
“The views expressed in certain of the statements signed by law school student organizations in recent days are in direct contravention of our firm’s value system,” Davis Polk said in a statement. To ensure that “we continue to maintain a supportive and inclusive work environment,” the firm added, “the student leaders responsible for signing on to these statements are no longer welcome in our firm.”
The chair and managing partner of Davis Polk, Neil Barr, said in an interview on Tuesday that the firm did not want employees who endorsed the atrocities of the Hamas attack working for it.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/business/davis-polk-employment-columbia-harvard-israel-palestine.html
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