A prestigious law firm has withheld a job offer to a brilliant NYU Law School Bar Association student president after she made a series of inflammatory comments regarding the Hamas attack on Israel on Monday, Oct. 8, 2023.
The law firm, Winston & Strawn, did not name the student but described her as a former summer associate. However, Workman’s now-deleted LinkedIn account previously listed a summer associate’s job at Winston & Strawn.
According to Reuters, on Monday Workman blamed Israel for the violence that was triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel in the SBA newsletter.
“I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination,” excerpts of Workman’s message read.
The Students Bar Association president continued:
“Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life. This regime of state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary. I will not condemn Palestinian resistance.”
Workman went on to condemn the violence of apartheid, settler colonialism, military occupation, dispossession, stolen homes, and an entire litany of accusations against the Israeli government. Workman did not condemn the violence of Hamas that has ignited warfare and has killed more than a thousand Palestinian and Israeli people.
In a statement, the law firm said the former summer associate’s comments “profoundly conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values.” Winston & Strawn LLP has offices in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Hong Kong, Paris, and Shanghai.
The firm said it took note of Workman’s comments, causing them to rescind an employment offer to their company in a tweet from its corporate X profile.
The firm also sent a strong message to “all Winston personnel” that, as a company, they “remain outraged and deeply saddened by the violent attack” and standing “in solidarity with Israel’s right to exist in peace,” condemning unequivocally Hamas and the destruction it has caused.
New York University released a statement reprimanding Workman on the school’s website.
“The statement issued by the president of the Student Bar Association does not in any way reflect the point of view of NYU, which condemns the terrorist attack on Israel,” the statement read.
