California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is among many top officials in the state facing a lawsuit from a former general of the Air National Guard who was fired.
The person, Brigadier General Jeffrey Magram, said that he was terminated wrongfully last year, and was also subjected to “anti-Semitic harassment, discrimination and retaliation.”
Magram filed his lawsuit on January 24 in court in Los Angeles against Newsom and some other authorities in the state. His superiors said he was fired because there were claims that he “used troops to run personal errands.”
In his lawsuit, Magram claims that Major General Matthew Beevers, who was his leader with the Air National Guard, engaged in many different anti-Semitic incidents over the last two years. In addition, he’s alleged to have created a hostile work environment.
Beevers is now serving as the adjutant general for the California Military Department.
Magram’s lawsuit also alleges that Newsom ignored multiple complaints that he filed about Beevers’ behavior.
Last January, reports emerged that Magram used troops at the Air National Guard to run some personal errands. This included taking his mother shopping. He also allegedly prepared a fighter jet for a “possible domestic mission” during the early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Many officials feared that the plane might be used in a “buzzing” situation, where civilian protesters would be influenced to disperse from their crowds.
An internal disciplinary board confirmed that the multiple accusations that were made against Magram were what resulted in him being involuntarily transferred to the Air Force retired reserve. Essentially, this is the same thing as being fired.
Magram disagrees with why he was fired, though. His lawsuit claims that it was because he was exposing the anti-Semitic behaviors that Beevers exhibited. Among these are a claim that he called a general out for being so cheap that he “gives Jewish people a bad name.” He’s also alleged to have asked someone, “How Jewish can you get?”
In addition, Magram has claimed that another senior officer witnessed each of these anti-Semitic behaviors that Beevers exhibited, and that he reported them to someone in Newsom’s office six different times.
When Magram ended up reporting this behavior, he said that Beevers started “resurrecting and misrepresenting minor settled issues” that were 10 years old or more. He said that he believes it was done to try to remove him from his position before Beevers left to go to his new position in August of 2022.
When Magrams refused to resign, Beevers attempted to take away a disability claim that Magram had filed, the lawsuit states. He was getting benefits from the air National Guard as a result of it.
But, Magram ended up losing some benefits when Beevers got Newsom’s permission to shorten his disability medical evaluation, according to the lawsuit.
In addition to filing this lawsuit, Magram issued a press statement about the situation that said:
“I am extremely proud of my more than 37 years of service to California and this great nation, but I still have serious concerns for the welfare of the servicemembers and civilians that currently serve in the Department. MG Beevers mounted an unprecedented defamatory campaign against me, and it was supported by the Governor.”
