Georgia State U. Faces Federal Lawsuit Alleging Anti-Muslim Bias

A former doctoral student at Georgia State University has joined a former director of its Middle East Institute in filing a federal discrimination lawsuit alleging that the university tolerated anti-Muslim bias against the student and then retaliated against both her and the institute’s director when they complained. The director, Dona J. Stewart, initially filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the university had said it was cooperating with the agency’s investigation. The EEOC gave Ms. Stewart the go-ahead to bring a lawsuit (without passing judgment on the validity of her claims) after determining it probably could not process her complaint in a timely manner. Among its allegations, the lawsuit claims a faculty member repeatedly asked the student if she was carrying bombs under her traditional headscarf.