Judge rules it offensive to call Jews clever

V A JUDGE has said it can be offensive to call Jews clever after a university lecturer was sacked for using inappropriate remarks about race and nationality.

Stephen Lamonby, who had been a part-time lecturer in engineering at Solent University in Southampton, failed in a claim of unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal last month.

He lost his job following remarks made during a meeting with his course leader Janet Bonar in a university canteen in March 2019. Mr Lamonby voiced his belief that “the Jewish are the cleverest people in the world” and were “much maligned because of it”.

When Dr Bonar said she had a degree in physics, he said a capability in the subject was “a particular gift enjoyed by some Jewish people”, offering Einstein as an example.

But when he asked Dr Bonar if she was Jewish,” she did “not respond well”, he later recalled, and shouted he was a racist.

While Mr Lamonby had argued that his stereotypes had been postiive, this was “potentially offensive”,

Judge O’Rourke said. “A Jew told they are good at physics, because they are a Jew, may well consider that as demeaning their personal intellectual ability/ hard work.,” the judge said.

“Secondly, it could also be simply grossly offensive, as the person may not actually be Jewish, but feel some characteristic is being ascribed to them.

“Thirdly, even if they are Jewish, they may quite properly consider it none of the claimant’s business to refer to the fact and have legitimate concerns about his reasons for doing so”.