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Court to Hear Case of Dea Agent Alleging Anti-semitic Job Bias

March 19, 1991
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A former Drug Enforcement Administration trainee who claims he was fired from the federal agency because he complained about anti-Semitic comments by instructors and classmates will have his day in court after all.

Paul Rosen brought a civil rights suit against the DEA and the U.S. Justice Department, but his case was dismissed in January by the federal district court in Manhattan.

Judge Michael Mukasey threw out the case, he said, because Rosen did not have the evidence needed to prove that discrimination was the primary reason for his dismissal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found last week that Judge Mukasey had improperly dismissed the case before considering all of the evidence, and the case has been sent back to the lower court for trial.

Rosen says he was a target of anti-Semitism from the time he began a 12-week training session at the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Glynco, Ga., in 1983.

The DEA and Justice Department claim Rosen was fired because he failed a mandatory driving test and a remedial test, adding that Rosen almost collided with another car.

According to Rosen, the second driving test was a sham, created just one day after he made a formal complaint about anti-Semitism at the law enforcement center.

Rosen also alleges that in a class about cultural diversity, an instructor said, “Jews only care about their money,” and another teacher made derogatory remarks about Jews in Miami.

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