Estate agent is suspended for celebrating death of Lord Rothschild and hoping all Israel supporters would die

Amanda Hardy

The branch manager of an estate agency in Hertfordshire has been suspended after she openly celebrated the death of Lord Jacob Rothschild, the financier and member of the Rothschild banking family, who died at the age of 87 on Monday.

Following his death, Amanda Hardy, who has worked for Barkers estate agents in Borehamwood for almost 20 years, posted a message on social media in which she said: “The world is a better place with this Zionist dead. Just got to hope all the others follow.”

The owner of Barkers, Chris Newell, has moved swiftly to suspend Hardy pending an investigation which could lead in disciplinary action.

The Jewish News, who saw the post, said she initially apologised for any offence caused, but said: “People need to start questioning.”

Responding to how the Jewish community could feel about her comments, she told them: “I have lots of Jewish friends, I have a rabbi that I know, lots of beautiful Jewish friends and to be honest with you, they all love me and respect me and know me.”

Hardy denied her comments were antisemitic or opposed to the Jewish religion.

Newell told the press that he was “extremely dismayed” by the message, and was keen to stress that the views expressed in that post “do not represent those of the business or any member of staff in the business – and do not represent my views either”.

‘I find the post offensive, I think everybody in the business finds it offensive,” he continued. “Amanda Hardy has been suspended pending an investigation and as a result of that disciplinary action may follow.”

He added: “The business has been operating in this area for 30 years serving communities of all faiths. I’m sympathetic to those who find this post offensive and I share this view. I am extremely dismayed by it.”

Following the death of Lord Rothschild, his family said in a statement: “Our father Jacob was a towering presence in many people’s lives, a superbly accomplished financier, a champion of the arts and culture, a devoted public servant, a passionate supporter of charitable causes in Israel and Jewish culture, a keen environmentalist and much-loved friend, father and grandfather.

“He will be buried in accordance with Jewish custom in a small family ceremony and there will be a memorial at a later date to celebrate his life.”

Lord Rothschild’s family has an estimated fortune of £825m, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. They reportedly gave away a reported £66m to Jewish causes, education and art.

 

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24 Comments

  1. Cheese2

    Based on the evidance presented I hope Barkers & Chris Newell are sued for unfair dismissal, if dismissed.

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    1. MrGilbert

      “The world is a better place with this Zionist dead. Just got to hope all the others follow.” What more evidence is needed!!

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      1. Cheese2

        Hard to feel forry for a billionaire who funds the killing of my people.

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    2. jan-byers

      You are an ignorant rascist
      If anyone in my compamny did that it wold be gross misconduct – gone
      Fortunatly I do not employ anti-semetic scum

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      1. Cheese2

        Racist? no.
        Ignotant? Certainly not.
        Wanting my family to be safe. 100%

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    3. Billy Buff

      You must be have extremely questionable morals my friend.

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      1. Cheese2

        No. Just dont want more of my family killed.

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        1. Billy Buff

          If babies being beheaded is ok in your world, then I feel extremely sorry for you. You are clearly a racist moron.

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    4. Retiredandrelaxed

      Happily, I think it is likely that so long as Barkers follow the proper process, they would be fine in a tribunal.

      As for you, Mr Cheese, whilst you are perfectly entitled to your views, you might be better off scuttling back under your rock.

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      1. Cheese2

        I’d love to, but unfortnetly there are people stopping me from going back ‘under my rock’ due to it being bombed.

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        1. Gangsta Agent

          at least check your spelling, unfortnetly, Ignotant, forry, but also for your comments IDIOT

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          1. Cheese2

            good rebuttle.

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  2. Mark Manning

    Whatever your views on the current conflict for someone working in a position of authority in a North London community with such a high number of Jewish residents to say what she did is so idiotic it beggars belief.

    Well done to the owner for swiftly suspending her but surely such an awful public post can only lead to her being dismissed.

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  3. NW.Landlord

    I always think its best to keep politics and business apart, why take the risk? You want as many customers as possible. I’d imagine an agent in Bradford who celebrated the death of a prominant Muslim might find themselves in trouble pretty quickly too.

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  4. Neil Robinson

    Most companies have social media policies that cover any offensive content. It doesn’t matter what the (political) opinion is, saying you’re glad someone is dead, no matter who that person is, is abhorrent and paints a terrible picture.

    I wouldn’t hesitate to fire someone who did that.

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  5. jan-byers

    She will struggle to get another job
    Hope she falls into a financial disaster

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    1. Retiredandrelaxed

      “Hope she falls into a financial disaster”

      An understandable sentiment but don’t lower yourself to her level

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  6. DavidMintz

    There’s no room for this sort of vile antisemitism in our industry and it doesn’t matter whether you dress it up as “politics” or call it out for what it is- blatant, conspiracy theory laced, antisemitism. Regardless of your views, we are meant to be kind and compassionate and celebrating anybody’s death is utterly abhorrent. What compounds this particular incident is the racist rhetoric backing it. I congratulate the business owners for dealing with it swiftly, the old “a lot of my friends are Jewish” line doesn’t convince anyone. Social media policies are great for policing these sort of things, but a bit of education and cultural awareness within our businesses does wonders not just for the business but also the individuals. If you are serving culturally diverse communities are your team fully conversant with their customs and culturally aware of their sensitivities? If not, consider doing this today as one of the best investments you can make in your team. All power to the business owners for calling this out.

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    1. Shaun Adams

      David you are spot on.

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  7. Joolee

    What an abhorrent thing to say, I am glad to hear that her employer is dealing with it so swiftly.

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  8. None of us will get out of this alive

    2 hrs or 20 years, that is instant dismissal. Bringing the company into disrepute, racially aggravated language, Gross Misconduct.
    Also, does she really deserve a job at all being that stupid?

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  9. htsnom79

    Never ceases to amaze me the vitriol some people carry with them through what is an all too brief spell on a spinning rock.

    I have no knowledge of this woman or indeed the firm that employs her, but I have worked that patch, and others in the southeast where the communities that reside there are very different to the communities that spawned me.

    Personally, I loved how exotic it all felt. Not supposed to drive on a given day? Fine, drive to within a few hundred meters and park up round the corner before finishing up on foot to whatever Church/Mosque/Temple/Synagogue was the destination. It got so that I could pin it just by decor and furnishings, no that’s not Father Christmas over the fireplace that’s Guru Nanak so my potential client is Sikh, fancy gold tissue box on the parcel shelf? South Asian before they’ve even opened the door, this sort of thing might seem meh when you’re used to it but it wasn’t to this redneck from up country.

    And you know what? some of them were vile and some of them were lush. Quelle Surprise Rodney.

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  10. CountryLass

    I had a ‘friend’ who did something similar when Margaret Thatcher died. We had always had differing views on things, and we had been friends since high school. Xe argued that she was an awful woman, a terrible Prime Minister and she ruined the country. I argued that since she had been in power for 4 years by the time xe was born, it wasn’t like xe had a great knowledge of what the country was like before. And, whilst I think that selling off the council housing stock etc was an awful move as they did not have proper plans to replace it, at the end of the day, the woman was the prime minister for over a decade, and more to the point, she was a daughter, wife, mother, aunt, sibling and friend to people. You don’t celebrate the death of someone like that. She wasn’t a terrorist or murderer, she made the decisions she did, one would hope, with the best of intentions, whether history agrees with her or not.

    (And yes, I have put ‘xe’ as last I heard there was a transition going on and I’m not sure whether they are to be referred to as he or she now… I managed the impressive feat of getting them to unfriend me on social media, as most people gave up on arguing with them and did it first. I just thought it was fun to wind them up…)

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  11. Gangsta Agent

    fired, 100%……………………………………

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