Court orders state to apologise to Jewish students

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Five former Victorian students have successfully sued the state for failing to protect them against anti-Semitic discrimination, bullying and racism they experienced in high school.

The state was on Thursday ordered to apologise to ex-Brighton Secondary College students Joel and Matt Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen and Zack Snelling, and pay them more than $400,000.

The court erupted in applause after the hearing, and dozens of the students’ supporters began singing Israel’s national anthem Hatikvah and hugging each other in celebration.

The students took the state, school, two teachers and principal Richard Minack to the Federal Court for a months-long trial last year.

Each of them left Brighton Secondary College prematurely, and four out of five departed the school due to anti-Semitic bullying.

Chief Justice Debra Mortimer on Thursday found Jewish students were not protected from bullying, discrimination and negligence when they attended th e school between 2015 and 2020.

She said Mr Minack, as principal, failed to take action to address “a high level of anti-Semitic bullying and harassment of Jewish students” and swastika graffiti at the school.

She said he took a “different, and less favourable” approach to the bullying and harassment of Jewish students, in contrast to abuse perpetrated against other vulnerable minorities at the school.

Matthew Kaplan (right) and Liam Arnold-Levy outside the Federal Court of Australia, in Melbourne Photo: Diego Fedele AAP

was an “inexplicable and unusual tolerance” for anti-Semitic graffiti at the school and a “preparedness to ignore, downplay and take less seriously complaints made by Jewish students”, she said.

She said Mr Minack, the school and the state failed to enforce policies on racial harassment to protect Jewish students, and the students were not given a comfortable environment to call out harassment.

In particular, she said the school’s leadership cohort should “hang their heads in shame” over the abuse Mr Snelling suffered.

He was assaulted by a group of students at night in a p ark, and at other times spat on, shoved and had a swastika carved onto his locker.

“I didn’t have anywhere to go and they started punching me, kicking me,” he told the trial about the assault.

“It was dark and cold and raining and I was just getting beaten, just on the ground. I was defenceless.”

Neither Mr Snelling, nor his family, were offered any support by teachers or the principal after the park beating.

Chief Justice Mortimer found Mr Minack delivered two school assembly speeches where he referred to his father, who served in the German army during World War II, as a “good man” but did not find he called him a “Nazi”.

She said anti-Semitic behaviour against Jewish students at the school increased after the 2018 speech.

She also found teacher Paul Varney had singled Mr Cohen out by greeting him using “wholly inappropriate and ham-fisted attempts” at greeting him in Hebrew in front of other students in class.

Claims brought against the other teacher, Demi Flessa, were rejected.

The state was ordered to pay damages to the students, including more than $240,000 for Mr Snelling, $120,000 for the Kaplan brothers, $55,000 for Mr Cohen and about $11,000 for Mr Arnold-Levy.

The state must negotiate with the students on what form an apology will take, and serve them with a proposal by October 6.

The state was also ordered to pay up to $130,000 in costs.

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said the outcome was a “thundering victory for justice” against what he termed as an “epidemic of anti-Semitism in schools”.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Jillian Segal applauded the students in taking on the state with meagre resources.

“This decision will stand as a warning to any students who engage in anti-Semitic bullying,” she said.

Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said the state would use the ruling to identify steps t o eliminate anti-Semitism and racism in schools.

“Every Victorian student deserves to feel safe and respected at school – we deeply regret the anti-Semitism experienced by students at Brighton Secondary College and apologise unreservedly,” she said.

The president of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Jillian Segal, said: “With meagre resources, they took on the might of the Victorian government and Education Department to stand up for truth and justice, and they were successful. We know the personal price all of them have paid in sweat and nerves and the enormous financial sacrifice they have made.

This decision will stand as a warning to any students who engage in antisemitic bullying and to parents, teachers and Education Departments across Australia who fail to act responsibly to curb and prevent such behaviour. They will be held to account for their actions,” Ms Segal said.

Ms Segal added: “The time has come for a national antisemitism education program across Australian schools to provide resources and support to teachers and parents to understand and defeat this form of hatred. Bland, generic statements against racism are not enough.

This case has sent a clear signal that the cost of continuing inaction by governments in dealing appropriately with racism will be far higher than the cost of taking effective action.”

Daniel Aghion is the president of The Jewish Community Council of Victoria. He stated: “The JCCV welcomes Chief Justice Mortimer’s judgement in the case involving five Jewish students against their former school, Brighton Secondary College.

Her judgement acknowledges that antisemitic bullying occurred at the school and there was a systemic failure to deal with it by school leadership. Jewish students are entitled, by law, to the same protection against vilification and discrimination as students from other minorities.

The Jewish community has wrapped their arms around these students. We hope they can now put this traumatic ordeal behind them.

The JCCV stands ready to help the Victorian Government and school leaders ensure that all Victorian schools offer a safe environment for Jewish students.”

President of Zionism Victoria Yossi Goldfarb welcomed the verdict, while adding, “Too much emphasis is placed on tackling antisemitism after the horse has bolted.

 “Punishing the perpetrators does little to diminish the ignorance or prejudice that allow offensive or hateful sentiments to flourish.

What is required is education and familiarisation to counter misinformation, disinformation, stereotypes, bias and bigotry before they take hold.

 That is why initiatives such as our Jakob Frenkiel Connecting Cultures program that promotes tolerance, respect and understanding among young Victorians are so critical in the fight against antisemitism.”

AIJAC Executive Director Dr. Colin Rubenstein said, “The five students who launched this case – Matt and Joel Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen and Zack Snelling – along with their families, deserve both admiration and thanks for the important results they have achieved today. They doubtless paid a considerable personal price to see justice done at last.”

“What was particularly telling about the verdict was that it made it clear that Jewish students at Brighton Secondary College were treated differently compared to other minority groups when they reported bigotry and racial abuse.

“We hope that this verdict will contribute to greater public awareness of the issue of antisemitic bullying in schools across Australia – and the responsibility of teachers, school administrators and State Departments of Education to do more to combat this serious problem, which anecdotal evidence suggests is far from rare. Mere statements and toothless policies condemning such racist bullying are not enough. AIJAC hopes that this verdict will spur the Victorian Department of Education – along with its counterparts in all Australian states – to urgently develop new best-practice programs to deal with antisemitism in schools, and then implement them in a concerted and consistent manner as a high-priority,” he concluded.