DALLAS โ A newly filed motion in federal court alleges that D2 Counseling, a Dallas mental health clinic, and its co-owners, Dr. Dina Hijazi and Rev. Daniel Gowan, retaliated against two Jewish therapists who raised concerns about antisemitism in the workplace. The amended complaint, submitted on December 5, adds a new retaliation claim and incorporates internal communications that plaintiffs say confirm discrimination and efforts to suppress protected speech.
The motion follows what plaintiffsโ counsel describe as a retaliatory state court lawsuit filed by the defendants after the federal discrimination case was initiated. According to the filing, the new state action targeted the therapistsโ legally protected advocacy and was designed to discourage further civil rights claims.
The plaintiffs, therapists Yocheved Junger and Jacqueline Katz, allege they were fired for objecting to antisemitic conduct in their workplace and for raising concerns about how Jewish trauma and antisemitism were handled in clinical settings. Their counsel argues that the defendantsโ decision to initiate a separate lawsuit supports a new claim of unlawful retaliation.
In a public statement, Brooke Goldstein, Founder and Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, said Jewish patients deserve clarity about whether mental health providers take antisemitic trauma seriously.
โJewish patients seeking mental-health care deserve to know whether the providers they turn to will take antisemitic trauma seriously or dismiss it as bias. This case is about accountability. Employers cannot hide behind litigation tactics to avoid responsibility for discrimination, and they cannot use lawsuits as intimidation tools against those who speak up,โ Goldstein said.
The amended complaint details new evidence, including texts and emails produced during discovery. According to the filing, these communications show that senior leadership at D2 Counseling characterized the Jewish therapistsโ concerns as personal obsessions rather than legitimate clinical issues.
One text message from Rev. Gowan, cited in the complaint, described discussion of antisemitism as the point โwhere the zealots come out,โ referring to the issue as โtheir lifelong passion,โ โpart of the victim story,โ and a means for โthemโ to feel โself-righteous.โ He also referred to the therapists as โlittle children clamoring for attention.โ
In another communication, Dr. Hijazi wrote that the team conversation about Jewish trauma reflected the โentrenched viewsโ of the clinicโs three Jewish clinicians, concluding there was โno conversation or discussion to be had.โ The complaint states that defendants repeatedly conflated Jewish identity with bias, rather than addressing the substance of the therapistsโ professional concerns.
The amended complaint further alleges that after terminating Junger and Katz, the clinicโs leadership struggled to identify any legitimate basis for their dismissal. One internal message quoted in the filing states, โWe have NOT said why we are terminating. Shit! I think we have to!โ Another text shows an effort to โrefineโ talking points, with proposed narratives claiming policy violations or the creation of a hostile work environment, even as defendants acknowledged these explanations were still being developed.
โThese are not the words of individuals who terminated employees for legitimate policy violations,โ said Jaclyn Clark, Counsel at The Lawfare Project. โThey are the words of individuals trying to retrofit a justification after the fact for discrimination and retaliation that they knew they could not lawfully admit.โ
The amended filing also strengthens plaintiffsโ claims for punitive damages, citing the defendantsโ awareness of legal risk, their failure to investigate antisemitism concerns, and their decision to pursue retaliatory litigation.
The case raises significant questions for Jewish clinicians and patients seeking culturally competent and bias-free mental health care. It also highlights the broader issue of how institutions respond when staff raise concerns about antisemitism, particularly in a period of rising hostility toward Jewish individuals in North America.
