Walla! to Compensate Journalist Fired Months After Evacuation from Gaza Border Community

The Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court ruled that Walla! must pay 45,000 shekels in compensation to journalist Meital Kaufman, who was fired months after being evacuated from her home at Kibbutz Mefalsim near the Gaza border following October 7. Judge Ariela Giltser-Katz determined that the company failed to prove the dismissal was based on professional grounds and that it was obligated to consider alternative employment. Kaufman worked remotely from a hotel in Herzliya, and the section she headed broke viewership records. The court also awarded legal costs and attorney fees.

The Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court ruled that Walla! Communications must pay 45,000 shekels in compensation to journalist Meital Kaufman, who was fired months after being evacuated from her home at Kibbutz Mefalsim near the Gaza border following October 7. Judge Ariela Giltser-Katz determined that the company failed to prove that the dismissal was based solely on professional and substantive grounds, and that it did not fulfill its duty to consider viable alternative employment before firing an evacuated employee. Kaufman worked as editor of the 'Walla! Celebs' section from September 2021 until her dismissal in March 2024, and continued to work remotely from a hotel in Herzliya. The court accepted her claim that viewership targets were arbitrarily raised in February 2024 from 250,000 to 450,000 daily views, and that her section broke viewership records with over 10 million views in May 2023 and 9 million in July 2023. The judge criticized the company for not bringing the chief editor, Eran Tiefenbrunn, to testify. In addition, the court awarded 500 shekels in legal costs and 8,000 shekels in attorney fees. Walla stated that it respects the court but believes the ruling is fundamentally wrong, and that it acted with great sensitivity.