Employee sues, saying he was fired for complaining about antisemitic statement

A car salesman's lawsuit claiming he was fired by a Smithtown auto dealer for complaining about an antisemitic statement by a supervisor can go forward, a Suffolk County judge has ruled.

Laurence Teller, 55, who is Jewish, says he was the top car seller in the King O’Rourke Auto Group in the summer of 2016. He sued the business when, he says, he was let go shortly after complaining about a supervisor calling a rival salesman an antisemitic term.

Teller, who suffers several health issues, including lingering problems from a gunshot wound he suffered in 1989, sued King O’Rourke in 2019 charging that he was retaliated against for raising concerns over the antisemitic statements and because he was unable to work three days due to his ailments.

Teller, who started at the company in June 2016, said that during a November 2016 company sales meeting, an executive made the antisemitic reference to an employee at a rival car lot. 

“I was outraged by the antisemitic comments from a director of [King O’Rourke],” Teller said in a deposition. “I expressed my displeasure to my direct supervisor. After losing my great-grandparents in the Holocaust, I was outraged that these comments could be made in a meeting attended by the entire sales staff and in America.”

He said in a deposition that when he complained, his supervisor told him, “It’s not a big deal!”

Teller, of Holtsville, claims that he worked tirelessly that summer, through his days off, until his health issues began to overwhelm him.

He missed three days of work, two of which were scheduled off days, his lawyer James Mermigis told Newsday, then on Dec. 8, 2016, he was fired.

The case has lingered through the pandemic and was reassigned a number of times to different judges, the lawyer said.

In October 2023, lawyers for the dealership sought to have the case thrown out, claiming in a court filing that Teller’s side failed to provide any facts to support his claim.

Suffolk County Judge James Quinn rejected the argument, ruling Thursday that the allegations were enough to move the case forward, noting that Teller was fired one week after making his complaint about the comment.

The attorneys for the dealership did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

"We’re happy with the judge’s decision and it puts us in a very strong position going forward,” Mermigis said.