Frédéric Menard, an employee in the Isolava Knauf factory in Wielsbeke, says that for a decade he suffered antisemitic abuse. When he dared complain, he was fired.
Menard had worked at the factory for six years without any problems. But then a co-worker saw his Star of David pendant. From that point on, three co-workers (two colleagues and one supervisor) started harassing him.
It started with one swastika, but soon they were everywhere, along with other Nazi symbols. His co-workers called him "Freddy, the Jew", "dirty Jew" and other insults.
After his mother's death in 2012, he 'came out' as a Jew. He turned to a lawyer, who filed a complaint with the company's bosses.
The abuse continued, and started getting violent. In one incident, a co-worker put a knife to his throat. Another time a co-worker held a knife in front of him and said "this is for the Jews and gays". When a co-worker tried to strangle him last April, Menard called the police, but did not file a complaint, because he did not want to worsen the situation.
Throughout this time, Menard was told by his employers that the issues were being handled, preventing measures were being taken, etc.
He turned to the LBCA (Belgian League against Anti-Semitism), who turned to his employers. In response, he was fired, for being in conflict with co-workers and ruining the company's good functioning.
Patrick Renard, head of Knauf Belgium, says that Menard was a problematic employee. There was no evidence of his claims of antisemitism. As for the swastikas, Renard says some people say he made them himself.
Joël Rubinfeld of the LBCA says they checked Menard's accusations and have no doubts about his credibility. Rubinfeld says it is easier for Knauf to fire the Jewish victim than to deal with the harassing antisemites.
More: Spiegel
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