The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday stated that it had filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint against Montgomery County Public Schools on behalf of a teacher placed on leave.
Hajur El-Haggan has been a teacher in Montgomery County since 2015, according to the complaint, and this year teaches 6th and 7th grade math.
In October, El-Haggan began wearing clothing and pins to show her support for Palestine, and added the phrase 'From the River to the sea, Palestine will be free' to her email signature.
"On the evening of November 20," the complaint reads, "after parent-teacher conferences, Ms. El-Haggan had a private meeting with the.. Principal, during which he informed her that she was being put on administrative leave by the county because of her email signature."
CAIR notes in the filing that other employees at the same school also express opinions and political views in their email signatures. They show three examples, all of which have links to an article "Should you put Pronouns in Email Signatures and Social Media bios?" as well as sponsorship of LGBTQ clubs and the phrase 'Black Lives Matter.'
The organization argues that El-Haggan has been discriminated against, by being treated differently from colleagues who have "engaged in similar conduct."
CAIR's filing states that El-Haggan was discriminated against based on her race, religion color and national origin.
The filing also notes that placing her on leave violates Montgomery County Public Schools' own 'Restorative Justice' policy, which the complaint says means "the county encourages employees to express their social and political views."
CAIR has scheduled a news conference for Friday, November 8th to discuss the filing.
WMAR-2 News has reached out to Montgomery County Public Schools for a statement and will update this story once we've received it.
