Who is Austin Franco? US student accused of antisemitism after saying he was ‘not interested in working for a Jew’

A summer season internship software at a New York start-up took a stunning flip when a Cornell College student rejected an interview alternative with an antisemitic message, telling the corporate he was “Not interested in working for a Jew. Thanks.”The message was despatched by 19-year-old Austin Franco after he had utilized for a summer season position at VryfID, a New York-based start-up that helps join renters with landlords and verifies identities to cut back fraud. The corporate is run by brothers Gabe and Aiden Einhorn, who’re Jewish.In response to the founders, Franco had already submitted an software and was being thought-about for a place on the agency’s progress workforce. Nevertheless, when the corporate tried to rearrange a Zoom interview by the job platform Handshake, Franco responded with the eight-word message that left the brothers surprised.“Unhappy world,” Gabe Einhorn, 24, wrote on X on Monday, sharing a screenshot of the change.Gabe later instructed the New York Submit that he determined to make the incident public as a result of he needed to convey consideration to antisemitism.“I felt unhealthy exposing him as a result of I believed he may have made a mistake and he actually doesn’t consider this wholeheartedly,” Gabe mentioned.Any doubts about Franco’s intentions disappeared. A day later, the Cornell student defended his feedback in a submit on X.“My experiences with Jews haven’t been nice, each in particular person and on-line. This is to not say I haven’t had constructive experiences, however on the mixture that is not the case,” Franco wrote.The incident has now prompted an investigation by Cornell College, the place Franco research industrial and labour relations, based on the New York Submit. His LinkedIn profile has since been deleted.A college spokesperson mentioned: “Cornell condemns antisemitism and all types of hatred and discrimination in the strongest attainable phrases.”The controversy has additionally drawn consideration to VryfID, the start-up launched by Gabe and his youthful brother Aiden Einhorn, 22, a enterprise student at New York College, in 2025.“As a substitute of renters struggling to go looking for flats and getting rejected, we have now them join, pay $20 to get verified. Then we truly convey them flats that they really qualify for,” Gabe defined.“For landlords, it helps them replenish their items and brings them the fitting tenants.”Gabe usually speaks publicly about his Jewish religion and wears a kippah. He mentioned he has encountered hostility on-line earlier than however by no means something fairly so direct.“I’ve seen some horrible issues throughout the board — antisemitic issues and simply horrible issues in common,” he mentioned, including that he had acquired a number of dying threats by social media.“Folks identical to to unfold hate throughout social media as a result of they’re nameless and so they haven’t any repercussions.”Regardless of these experiences, the brothers mentioned Franco’s response nonetheless got here as a shock.“Me and my brother variety of checked out one another like, ‘What?’ We by no means actually skilled [antisemitism] this instantly,” Gabe mentioned.“The entire thing was simply very stunning and uncalled for.”