Report: Brooklyn district attorney’s chief of staff accused of making antisemitic comments
The DA has asked the city to investigate, but a spokesperson for the office, who is Jewish, called the allegations ‘meritless gossip’
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez has asked the city to investigate accusations that his chief of staff engaged in antisemitic and other abusive behaviors, according to the New York Post.
Unnamed staffers alleged that the chief of staff, Maritza Mejia-Ming, called Jews “privileged,” said there were “too many Jews in power” in certain offices and proposed that observant Jews pay more for kosher meals at an office holiday party.
The accusers told the Post they were afraid to file formal discrimination complaints about Mejia-Ming because the DA’s Equal Employment Opportunity officers report to her.
The Post also quoted an email sent to the staff Wednesday in which Gonzalez wrote that he had asked for a city investigation into Mejia-Ming’s behavior, that he had “no tolerance for antisemitism” or other forms of bigotry, and pledged to bring in an outside consultant to improve how discrimination complaints are handled.
A call from the Forward to Mejia-Ming for comment was referred to Gonzalez spokesperson Oren Yaniv, who pointed to his quote in the Post calling the allegations “meritless gossip.”
“As a Jewish person who has been working very closely with Ms. Mejia-Ming for the past eight years, I can personally attest that the idea that she’s anti-Jewish is preposterous,” Yaniv said. “She was instrumental in promoting a variety of staffers, including many Jewish attorneys, to high positions in the office.”
The Post also quoted unnamed staffers saying Mejia-Ming had used office resources for personal errands and was abusive toward subordinates.
The Post said one EEO investigation into Mejia-Ming’s treatment of a Jewish staffer was closed without finding any wrongdoing and another complaint is pending. The EEO declined to comment to the Forward, stating that all proceedings are confidential.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
