A New Jersey research university which got $70 million in public funding last year allegedly repeatedly derailed a distinguished Israeli-born Jewish professor’s career due to his Orthodox beliefs, he claimed in a blistering lawsuit.
Dr. Tal Ben-Zvi, a tenured, award-winning teacher at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, has been battling the Hoboken school for more than a decade, when he was serving as vice chair of the school’s faculty senate and was accused of gender bias for failing to recommend a female colleague for tenure.
The school’s lawyers bizarrely cited a Jewish prayer it deemed misogynistic as evidence of Ben-Zvi’s bias, though the professor and others on the committee insisted she simply didn’t meet the criteria for tenure, according to the Hudson County Superior Court lawsuit.
After the professor lodged discrimination complaints, the institute allegedly trumped up “baseless charges of gender discrimination” against Ben-Zvi, delaying his pay, denying him a promotion and at one point stopping his health account, the professor, who has a disability, claimed.
The academic claimed the school also retaliated against him for not attending work meetings on Yom Kippur and Passover and for filing a complaint that the school did not provide kosher food at a lunch meeting where other dietary accommodations were made.
A trial is set to begin Monday in Jersey City.
“My dad was able to survive the Holocaust,” Ben-Zvi, 48, told The Post. “Today, 80 years later, I’m sadly in a position where I not only need to stand up for my religious beliefs but also fight for my livelihood.”
Watchdogs are taking notice.
The era of “institutional immunity” for campus antisemitism is over, said Sagit Sade Attia, from the Israeli American Council.
“As the Department of Justice moves into 2026 with its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, the focus has shifted from simple policy ‘oversight’ to the investigation of federal funding abuse.”
The school’s legal contract is clear, she said.
“Federal money requires strict compliance with Title VI and VII.”
A lawyer for Ben-Zvi, who is seeking unspecified damages, said the professor has had a distinguished career.
“During his tenure, he has been recognized as a top researcher and has consistently received high marks in student evaluations,” his attorney, Andrew Markowitz, told The Post of Ben-Zvi’s 20 years at the school.
“His performance has, on several occasions, been described by the university’s Vice Provost as ‘something to which the rest of the faculty should aspire.’”
The school denied the allegations in legal filings, and declined comment on the litigation.
“The university remains committed to the integrity of the legal process and the accurate resolution of these matters.”
