Court Dismisses Some Discrimination Claims Brought By Muslim Researchers

In Ridha v. Texas A&M University System, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41290 (SD TX, May 15, 2009), a Texas federal district court dismissed some, but not all, of the claims brought by husband and wife medical researchers against various defendants alleging discrimination on the basis of race, national origin and religion. Both plaintiffs are Iraqi Muslims (one Arab and one Kurdish) who left Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003. Both plaintiffs, who conducted research in the Reproductive Sciences Lab at Texas A&M, alleged among other things that various individuals who worked with them ridiculed their Muslim faith and threw animal urine and feces on their prayer rugs. Plaintiffs also allege that they were fired from their positions in retaliation for their complaints about harassment and discrimination. Among other things, the court held that the University System was not plaintiffs' employer for purposes of Title VII and that the 11th Amendment shields the University from damage claims for alleged 1st Amendment violations. It also held that claims under 42 USC Sec. 1981 can be brought for racial discrimination (including discrimination on the basis of ethnicity), but not for religious discrimination.