Facing litigation from Jewish CUPE members who allege the union and its leader had perpetuated antisemitism, CUPE Ontario has brought forward a motion to dismiss the lawsuit as baseless.
CUPE Ontario’s motion to dismiss the human rights case against them comes after the lawyer representing the plaintiffs requested access to CUPE’s financial records.
The lawsuit brought before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal by lawyer Kathryn Marshall on behalf of over 80 Jewish members of CUPE alleges that CUPE Ontario had prominently perpetrated antisemitism, especially after the Oct. 7 massacre against Israeli civilians by the terrorist group Hamas.
The complaint points to comments CUPE Ontario’s President Fred Hahn made only day after the attack, expressing gratitude for the “power of resistance around the globe,” and repeating the inflammatory “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chant.
It is also alleged that there is a “long pattern” of hostility towards Jewish members of the union, with Hahn allegedly telling a group of union members that he doesn’t believe Jewish people should live in Israel and that Jews “stole” the land from Palestinians.
Since the human rights complaint was originally filed, Hahn reposted an anti-Israel AI generated post depicting an Israeli Olympian diving into a pool, which then cuts to a video of a bomb dropping. Hahn’s post received widespread condemnation, including from Premier Doug Ford who called Hahn a “disgusting human being.”
In August, CUPE’s national executive wrote a statement telling Hahn that he had lost the executive’s confidence and called on Hahn to promptly resign, but Hahn ignored the resignation demands and remained CUPE Ontario’s president and representative on the national executive.
In remarks posted to X, Marshall claims that CUPE filed a motion to dismiss the complaint against them, arguing that the case brought against them is without basis. However, Marshall says that the request to dismiss the lawsuit comes after her firm requested the union’s financial records.
“Fred Hahn and CUPE have brought a motion asking the Ontario Human Rights Commission to dismiss our lawsuit, after we sought access to their financial records,” said Marshall.
“In a motion filed in court, Hahn and CUPE state they have “not discriminated against” Jewish union members and that allegations they have discriminated are merely ‘bald assertions” without any material facts.”
True North reached out to CUPE Ontario for comment, but received no response.
In CUPE’s statement of defence filed earlier this year, the union claims Hahn did not promote violence and discrimination against Jews, pointing to Hahn’s advocacy for transgender rights as proof to dismantle the claim.
In an August email sent to CUPE’s email list, Hahn claimed that he is being falsely maligned as an antisemite by supporters of Israel and that the allegations are baseless.
“As has happened to our union in the past, those who spoke up against the actions of the state of Israel last fall were quickly labeled antisemitic and vilified, especially online. I was one of those people,” said Hahn.
