Summary: A Virginia attorney is in major trouble with his law firm after sending out an email blaming homosexuals for the “plague of AIDS.”
The Daily Business Review reports that Walter Kubitz, a senior attorney with Becker & Poliakoff, is in hot water. Kubitz, who works in the Manassas, Virginia office, sent an email out to the entire law firm that expressed his disgust over recent court decisions that were in favor of same-sex marriages.
Kubitz sent the email to respond to a firmwide email that notified all of the attorneys in the firm of U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s ruling in Tallahassee that struck down a ban on same-sex marriage.
Florida recently found that a ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. In response, Kubitz argued, “There is not a shred of historical evidence that either of those clauses was ever intended to legitimize homosexuality.”
Kubitz even took it a step further, blaming homosexuality for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases: “Today’s reckless trashing of morality has been damaging on many fronts. For one, there has been a significant increase in sexually transmitted diseases over the past few decades, with the gay plague of AIDS being a classic example.”
Kubitz went on to quote the Bible, specifically Proverbs 11:21: “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.”
Ken Direktor, a member of the firm’s management committee, confirmed that “immediate and severe” action was taken against Kubitz, though he did not disclose what punishment was given to him. “The email infuriated me. I’ve been here 28 years, and we promote and support a work environment that’s diverse and collegial. An email as divisive as this runs directly contrary to the core values of this firm,” he said.
Michael Gongora, an attorney with the firm who was previously a Miami Beach city commissioner, added, “As an openly gay attorney at Becker & Poliakoff for over nine years, I know that the email sent by this attorney does not reflect the core values of this firm. In fact, Becker & Poliakoff is committed to diversity as reflected by the firm’s hiring practices, outreach and diversity scholarships awarded annually.”
It is believed that Kubitz may have accidentally hit “reply all” instead of “reply” when sending his email, and that perhaps the message was meant for one attorney. Alan Becker, a former managing partner of the firm, hoped that was the case: “I would like to think so. There is lots of room in the world for differing religious views but not on law firm emails.”
A firmwide response was sent immediately after Kubitz’s rant, stating that the comments “were inappropriate and would not be tolerated,” Gongora added. “I felt satisfied,” he said.
Kubitz has been practicing for 30 years, and joined the firm when Becker & Poliakoff merged with the Litman Law Firm two years ago. He graduated from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, which is a Christian liberal arts college.
Photo credit: gayrva.com
