Al Jazeera America responded forcefully on Monday to a lawsuit alleging that a top executive engaged in sexist and anti-Semitic behavior.
In a news release, the TV channel said it refuted reports about intolerance or gender bias in its organization
“These reports are false and malicious and are designed to mar the exceptional talent and diversity of its employees and the values that Al Jazeera America upholds,” AJAM said.
It was AJAM’s strongest response to a lawsuit brought last week by Matthew Luke, the channel’s former director of media and archive management, who was fired in February.
In a complaint filed in the New York Supreme Court, Luke alleges that he was dismissed 10 days after he went to human resources to complain that Omar Mahmud, AJAM’s senior vice president of broadcast operations and technology, discriminated against women and made derogatory remarks about Israel and the United States.
The complaint alleges that Mahmud removed female employees from projects to which they had been assigned by other managers, and that he once tried to replace an Israeli cameraman with a lesser qualified Palestinian cameraman. Moreover, Luke claims that Mahmud once said that supporters of Israel “should die a fiery death in hell.”
Luke is seeking $15 million in damages.
His attorney, Jeffrey Kimmel, said that his client was “an exemplary and loyal employee at Al Jazeera” and that Luke’s firing was “a clear violation of the law.”
AJAM responded to the lawsuit last week with a boilerplate statement, saying it “does not comment on pending litigation.” But Mahmud vigorously denied the allegations in an interview with The Washington Post.
As CNNMoney previously reported, the channel’s CEO Ehab Al Shihabi told staff member’s last week that the company will fight the lawsuit.
Monday’s press release did not mention the word “lawsuit.” Instead, it referred only to “reports” and “attacks” aimed at the channel.
Al Shihabi used the release to assert that AJAM “does not tolerate any discriminatory conduct and we take great pride in the diversity of our organization and its leadership.”
“The recent attacks on us as being anti-Semitic, sexist and anti-American are absurd,” Al Shihabi continued. “Al Jazeera America’s values are based on the highest ethical standards and professionalism. Integrity and respect guide our conduct internally and externally.”