Former Coach Kobi Refua Demands Legal Action Over “Humiliating” Firing by Bnei Yehuda

Football coach Kobi Refua has launched a legal challenge against his former club, Bnei Yehuda, after what he says was an unfair and humiliating dismissal. Through his lawyer, Amir Cohen, Refua sent the club a sharply worded pre-litigation warning letter and said he was never given a signed copy of his employment agreement.

According to the letter, Refua was fired on March 28 by Eliran Oved “unilaterally and immediately,” with no prior written or verbal notice, in violation of Israel’s advance-notice law for dismissals. The letter argues that the club had a legal duty to notify him before ending his employment.

The main complaint focuses on how the firing was carried out, live and in front of the media. Refua’s lawyer wrote that the dismissal happened “publicly and in the presence of television cameras,” in a manner that fell far short of fairness, dignity and proportionality, and amounted to “a public and deliberate humiliation” that seriously damaged Refua’s professional reputation.

Cohen said the way the club handled the matter creates a separate cause of action, saying that announcing a firing in a way that harms an employee’s dignity and professional standing, especially before cameras and a broad audience, “goes beyond what any employer is allowed to do.” The letter concludes that the club’s actions caused Refua substantial non-financial harm, including severe distress, damage to his self-worth, and lasting injury to his reputation in Israeli football.