LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - An ex-member is suing the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles for giving him the boot when he says he was just standing up to anti-Semitism and a threat of violence on CAALA's message board.
Neal Zaslavsky, of West Hollywood, filed a lawsuit Aug. 8 against CAALA, the nation's lagrest local association of plaintiffs' attorneys who sue businesses over their products and conduct. CAALA has a member's only Listserv that allows attorneys to send emails to a group to opine on a topic.
Zaslavsky says three CAALA members were allowed to post "unfettered hatred of the Jewish people," causing him to disengage from the Listserve. But he came back for a May 15 discussion on Ron DeSantis that devolved into more Jew-bashing, he claims.
"(T)troublingly, CAALA's leadership has done little to quell this campaign of terror and hate against the Jewish people (including Jewish members of CAALA) and the State of Israel," the complaint says, before Zaslavsky, who is representing himself, listed his personal connections to victims of the Holocaust.
Zaslavsky called two of the posters "professional Palestinian terrorists," which earned him a 30-day suspension from the Listserv. Also suspended was a poster who wrote: "BOTH SIDES HAVE COMMITTED ATROCITIES. Don't try and corrupt my written words to suit your stupidity. You try to pull that shit with me and I will snap you back so hard you'll think you're a first-year law student again."
Zaslavsky called the post a "threat on his life." When he learned of his suspension, Zaslavsky says he reacted poorly and sent an "unfortunate" email to CAALA executive director Kwedi Moore. Before he could send an apology, he was told by CAALA president Minh Nguyen that he was out-of-line.
Moore told Legal Newsline she couldn't comment on pending litigation but added: "CAALA, as an association dedicated to justice and equality, remains committed to its mission and purpose. Our organization has consistently voiced its opposition to any form of racism, xenophobia or discrimination against various ethnic minority communities."
Two weeks later, the process of expelling Zaslavsky from CAALA began. His lawsuit complains that the process was unfair, citing the participation of two lawyers whose firm represented Zaslavsky in insurance benefits litigation regarding the COVID pandemic.
Those two lawyers recused themselves from the final vote, but Zaslavsky said "the entire process was tainted by their early involvement... Everything that occurred thereafter is fruit of that poisonous tree."
Zaslavsky also claims his due process rights were violated during the process. His entire argument can be read in the complaint, available here.
"And while CAALA's Executive Committee essentially accused Mr. Zaslavsky of calling Ms. Moore an anti-Semite, a careful read of Mr. Zaslavsky's email to her makes no accusations, but instead asks Ms. Moore whether she will be siding with the anti-Semites, or, alternatively, whether she will stand with those of us who adhere to the teachings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who famously stated that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism," the suit says.
"Indeed, while Mr. Zaslavsky's email to Ms. Moore may not have been particularly well-stated because he had just been triggered by the threats on his life, he was merely looking to see which side of the issue of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism Ms. Moore adhered to."
Zaslavsky started law school a few days after his 40th birthday, he says. He is on the leadership team for Business Torts for the nation's trial lawyer group - the American Association for Justice.