VICTORY! Australian court rules in favor of five Jewish former students, orders payout of more than AUD $560,000, in Lawfare Project-backed lawsuit
“The ruling and order of more than AUD $560,000 is a clear victory for the rule of law and for these brave students who stood up against antisemitism. Despite the continued resistance that the State Government of Victoria showed in disputing every aspect of this claim, the Federal Court was able to deliver justice against the hateful attacks leveled against these students.”
Last Thursday, the Federal Court of Australia ruled in favor of five Jewish former students of Brighton Secondary College in Melbourne, ordering nearly AUD $436,000 in damages and $130,000 for costs to be paid to the students, as well as an apology by the State of Victoria.
The Lawfare Project finanically supported the lawsuit — which was brought against both the school and the Victoria state government — and worked with local counsel to achieve this momentous victory. The action stemmed from the school's normalized culture of Jew-hatred, which was so severe that all but one of the students were forced to leave the school due to fears for their safety and well-being.
Joel Kaplan (right) is one of five former students subjected to antisemitic bullying at Brighton Secondary College. (AAP: Diego Fedele)
The students — Matt Kaplan, Joel Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen, and Zack Snelling — asserted that they were subjected to a significant number of violations of Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act 1975 between 2013 and 2020.
Represented by Richard Hutchings of Cornwalls and Adam Butt, barrister, the students showed in their suit that the school had a failed system of education and discipline with respect to Jewish issues and concerns. This resulted in institutionalized antisemitism, and the students experienced daily and/or weekly verbal and physical assaults by non-Jewish students, as well as unlawful discrimination by the school's staff and officials.
"The ruling and order of more than AUD $560,000 is a clear victory for the rule of law and for these brave students who stood up against antisemitism,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and Executive Director of The Lawfare Project. "Despite the continued resistance that the State Government of Victoria showed in disputing every aspect of this claim, the Federal Court was able to deliver justice against the hateful attacks leveled against these students."
In her ruling, Chief Justice Debra Mortimer found that there were "unusually high levels of swastika graffiti" at the school and that frequent complaints were made about swastikas, antisemitic bullying, and harassment, but these were not adequately addressed. The Court also found that:
the school's principal contravened section 9 of the Racial Discrimination Act by "failing to take appropriate and reasonable steps to discourage and modify the antisemitic student bullying and harassment behavior, and to discourage swastika graffiti, including by imposing appropriate disciplinary consequences but also by more systemic approaches such as school-wide campaigns," and
there was an "inexplicable and unusual tolerance for antisemitic graffiti and a preparedness to ignore, downplay and take less seriously the complaints made by Jewish students and their families."
The Lawfare Project publicly backed the suit in November 2022, as cases of antisemitism continue to rise globally.