Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

« Governor Declares State of Emergenc… | Some Questions That Rick Perry Will… »

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Ladies Muslim Woman Booted From College After Lodging Sexual Harassment Complaint

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 9:44 AM

In 2008, Balayla Ahmad, a Muslim student at Connecticut’s University of Bridgeport, complained to school officials that she was being sexually harassed by another student. Instead of investigating her complaint, the school chose to ignore it and believe a counter-complaint filed by her alleged harasser that accused her of being a terrorist:

After reporting the sexual harassment in April 2009, Ahmad said she was approached by two university security directors who told her someone had made allegations against her and they threatened to call the FBI and have her arrested.

Later, two FBI agents knocked on Ahmad's apartment door, questioned her and left a business card, according to the lawsuit. She said she learned that her harasser or his associates had fabricated a story falsely accusing her of being a terrorist in apparent retaliation for having made a sexual harassment complaint against him.

Ahmad asked that the university provide her with an off-site proctor for her exams, but she said the university told her in April 2009 that her sexual harassment complaint had been closed and that she was being referred to a disciplinary committee. In June, she said the university dismissed her.

Of course the FBI discovered that Ahmad is not, in fact, a terrorist. Ahmad is now suing the university for being unsympathetic, discriminatory dicks.

Curtsies to Glynnis.

FacebookShare

Comments (10) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Welcome to Bridgeport.

Posted by jt on January 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM

I don't understand how Republicans can read a story like this and still be in favor of indefinite detention w/o trial for suspected terrorists. Don't they know that such a system will inevitably be abused? "Don't want to be my girlfriend, huh? Off to Gitmo with you!" Considering that distrust of government is a central part of their political philosophy one would think this would have occurred to them.

Posted by Ken Mehlman on January 19, 2012 at 10:05 AM

@2 Wait, which part of that "toss the girlfriend in Gitmo" scenario do you think makes them pause? Seems like a privileged white male misogynist's dream.

Posted by briantrice

on January 19, 2012 at 10:18 AM

I hope they have to cough up many millions.

Posted by Fnarf

on January 19, 2012 at 10:18 AM

@2 They could care less about that. It's not about keeping the country safe. It's about power and they have no problem abusing it for their own means.

Posted by crymsonclovur

on January 19, 2012 at 10:19 AM

I grew up in Bridgeport! It's an OK blue collar city. The University of Bridgeport leadership are total assholes, however, and this is nothing new. They'll keep doing this because they have the full backing of the church which owns UB. Which church? The culty Unification Church, that's who. University of Bridgeport is widely considered one of the worst universities in the nation. They bought it for a song after it nearly went under fiscally.

Posted by Joe Szilagyi