Top European hospital apologizes for antisemitic abuse, firing of Jewish surgeon

Admission comes after a court ruled that the prestigious Swedish hospital unjustly fired the neurosurgeon after he complained of antisemitic harassment by his supervisor.

By World Israel News Staff

A prestigious European hospital has agreed to acknowledge systemic antisemitic harassment and discrimination against a Jewish doctor and vowed to apologize and pay damages, in a landmark settlement to a civil suit.

On Monday, Sweden’s Karolinska University Hospital agreed to a significant financial settlement with Dr. Erik Svensson (a pseudonym), a Jewish neurosurgeon who alleged systemic antisemitic discrimination and unlawful retaliation during his time at the hospital.

The case, which was supported by The Lawfare Project—a global Jewish civil rights organization that combats antisemitism through legal action—was resolved with Karolinska agreeing to pay Dr. Svensson SEK 3,000,000, approximately $315,000.

This includes SEK 500,000 specifically allocated for moral damages, a rare and unusually high amount for such a case in Sweden.

Dr. Svensson, represented by attorney Sebastian Scheiman of The Scheiman Law Firm in Stockholm, had filed a lawsuit detailing a pattern of antisemitic harassment, professional exclusion, and intimidation.

The matter first went public in 2018, when Svensson told media outlets that he had been systematically harassed by Inti Peredo, then the department head supervising Svensson.

Peredo allegedly posted antisemitic caricatures and messages on Facebook, while at the same time targeting Svensson at work, forcing the veteran neurosurgeon to be placed under supervision at work and flagging Svensson to hospital administrators, labelling him a risk to patient safety and accusing him of reckless behavior.

Svensson was eventually terminated after reporting the abuse, a move he argued was retaliatory.

In 2022, a Swedish labor court ruled that Svensson’s firing had been unjust.

As part of the settlement for a subsequent civil suit, Karolinska issued a formal apology and accepted responsibility for its misconduct.

The hospital acknowledged that Svensson had been subjected to abusive treatment and antisemitic harassment, and admitted that it failed to properly investigate his complaints.

It also conceded that referencing Dr. Svensson’s Jewish identity in a report to the Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO)—which wrongly claimed he posed a risk to patient safety—was inappropriate. Karolinska affirmed IVO’s subsequent conclusion that Dr. Svensson posed no such risk.

In addition, the hospital acknowledged the damage its actions caused to  Svensson’s professional reputation, health, and career, and admitted that it should have handled the situation differently.

“This resolution marks a rare public admission of wrongdoing by one of Europe’s most prominent academic medical centers—and a significant milestone in the fight against institutional Jew-hatred in Scandinavia and beyond,” the Lawfare Project said on Tuesday.

Benjamin Ryberg, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Research at The Lawfare Project, hailed the settlement as a turning point against antisemitic workplace discrimination.

“This case sends a clear message: anti-Jewish discrimination and retaliation in the workplace are unlawful, and even the most prestigious institutions are not above the law.”

Dr. Svensson called the settlement a “historic moment” in the greater “fight against antisemitism within Swedish institutions – especially at Karolinska.”

“For too long, antisemitic abuse and retaliation were hidden behind silence and denial. This settlement, following our earlier victory in the Labour Court, is not just personal—it is a public reckoning that affirms no institution is above accountability.”