Federal lawsuit by Arab-American police recruit alleges racial and religious discrimination
By Katie Fretland
The Commercial Appeal
Lawyers for the city of Memphis and Mayor Jim Strickland said a federal lawsuit by a former Memphis police recruit who alleges racial and religious discrimination in his termination from the Memphis Police Department Training Academy should be dismissed.
Tareq Elkhayyat, an Arab-American of Palestinian descent, alleged that after he applied to join the training academy in 2014 an officer intensely questioned him about terrorist groups and whether he attended a mosque. Elkhayyat was admitted to the police academy around Aug. 24, 2015, but later was pulled out of training and questioned about his Muslim religion, his cousin and his cousin’s Facebook postings, according to his federal complaint.
In a court filing, attorneys for the city said an officer, Stuart Frisch, interviewed Elkhayyat, but denied Elkhayyat’s other allegations and said that all of the city’s actions were for non-discriminatory and legitimate reasons.
“While the city expressly denies that its employees and/or agents acted in any manner that would constitute a violation of any of the stated causes of action, if plaintiff’s rights were violated, any such violations occurred outside the scope of city employees’ employment or agency and without the consent of the city,” wrote Tannera George Gibson and Zayid A. Saleem. “The City did not authorize, condone, ratify, or tolerate any such violations …”
Elkhayyat, of Cordova, was born in Houston, studied criminal justice at Southwest Tennessee Community College and graduated with an associate’s degree in December 2014.
Elkhayyat’s attorneys allege he was discriminated against in violation of state and federal law. They argue that the city interfered with his right to freely practice his religion.
“From the questioning, it was clear that Officer Frisch and other unnamed employees of MPDTA were intent on removing Mr. Elkhayyat from his employment based on his race, religion, the national origin of his father, and/or his association with his cousin,” wrote Bryce Ashby, Donald Donati, William Ryan and Janelle Osowski.
Elkhayyat’s police file contains photos his cousin shared on Facebook. One shows two Islamic buildings in Jerusalem — the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. The words “Al Aqsa is ours,” “Jerusalem is ours” and “Palestine is ours” are printed across the top of the photo and the flag of Palestine is pictured. Another photo shared by the cousin was taken by a photojournalist and depicts young supporters of the Islamic Jihad movement at a 2010 rally in Gaza City.
Frisch interviewed Elkhayyat after a training academy instructor raised concerns about Elkhayyat, according to Gibson and Saleem.
On Sept. 24, 2015, an officer wrote a letter about concerns that Elkhayyat showed little emotion at the training academy. His demeanor did not change when others showed physical exertion, fear and anger, the officer reported. The officer “felt perhaps it was a cultural issue,” according to the letter.
The city denied Elkhayyat’s complaint that Frisch and others intended to remove him because of his religion, his race, the national origin of his father or his relationship with his cousin.
The city said Elkhayyat was terminated in part for violating the department’s social media policy, but denied Elkhayyat’s complaint that other cadets violated the policy without consequence.
A court date is set June 6 before U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr.
Source: www.commercialappeal.com