MINNEAPOLIS — Mashal Sherzad fought back tears Friday as she described the events leading up to losing her job as Diversity Equity and Inclusion manager at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in January.
"I'm really, really scared for myself for many reasons," Sherzad told reporters inside the Coffman Memorial Union. "What happened to me was wrong, legally, factually, emotionally. It was horrifying for me, my family, and my loved ones."
Sherzad, a Muslim woman from an Afghani immigrant family, filed a lawsuit against the U of M, asserting the university violated her civil rights by firing her over a social media post critical of Israel's ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
"All I ask is you don’t take the income away from the people who do this work from their souls, because I do. I’m on unemployment, struggling to make ends meet after doing a lot of emotional labor."
Sherzad has been vocal on her private Instagram account about her criticism of Israel's incursion into Gaza in response to the Hamas surprise attack last October. While taking part in a ceasefire rally in Barcelona, Spain in December, she posted several photos and described what Israel is doing in Gaza as genocide.
"The caption on said post was, 'This is not a conflict. This is not a war. This is genocide'," Sherzad explained.
She said she didn't realize at the time that, through the Meta connection, her Instagram post was automatically posted to Facebook. She said that account is also private, but someone who saw it on that site complained to the University about it.
The unidentified person pointed out to the U of M that another protester can be seen in Sherzad's photo holding an Israeli flag with Nazi swastikas painted on it. That's an especially troubling image for those who know that Germany murdered at least six million Jews and others in the Holocaust.
Two days after receiving the complaint, Sherzad's managers placed her on paid leave, citing the controversial images in the background of her posts. During a Zoom call on January 12, university officials told Sherzad she had been fired, effective January 10.
"The post was purposely and intentionally framed as anti-Semitism, which is not at all something that I support. It frankly disgusts me," Sherzad said.
A university spokesperson says there's a limit to what the university can say in response to a lawsuit, but he did share a copy of the termination letter sent to Sherzad.
Public Health School Dean Melinda Pettigrew wrote, "I find that continuing your employment would create a real risk of significant disruption to School and University activities. This is particularly true given the current climate around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, within the University community and around the globe, and the highly inflammatory nature of the image you posted. As Program Manager for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the School, your conduct directly undermines your credibility in this role."
Pettigrew is among those named in the lawsuit, which claims the University violated Sherzad's First Amendment rights to free speech, Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection under the law, as well as Minnesota's Human Rights Act. It also alleges the institution engaged in a conspiracy to violate Sherzad's rights and violated other federal anti-discrimination laws.
Sherzad's attorney, Jordan Kushner, told reporters that university employees and students shouldn't be punished for speaking out on major issues. He said Sherzad is seeking her old job back, plus monetary damages.
"The facts of this case are outrageous," Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations Minnesota, told reporters.
"Every one of you, it should shock your conscience that you could get fired for something that was in your background, you could not even see it at the time."
The press conference came during a week when pro-Palestinian and pro-ceasefire protests on college campuses across the country and the U of M has resulted in arrests of students and other demonstrators.
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