Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Religious Discrimination Linked to Pro-Palestinian Advocacy
The Legal Defense Fund of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a legal complaint on Tuesday against Meta Platforms Inc., accusing the tech company of workplace discrimination and wrongful termination tied to religious expression.
The lawsuit, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, claims that Meta violated federal and state labor laws—including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code—by allegedly punishing an employee, Mohammed Feras Majeed, for sharing views aligned with his Muslim faith.
According to the complaint, “Meta discriminated against Plaintiff based on his religious identity as a Muslim by forcing him to choose between expressing his sincerely held religious belief and maintaining his employment. Meta silenced Plaintiff’s expressions of religious solidarity with the Muslim community during the ongoing genocide in Gaza—a subject central to Plaintiff’s faith—while permitting similarly situated non-Muslim employees to speak freely about other humanitarian and political crises.”
The legal filing seeks several remedies, including a court order to prevent future incidents of alleged religious discrimination at Meta, the removal of negative remarks from Majeed’s personnel file, mandatory annual religious sensitivity training for company leadership, and both compensatory and punitive damages, according to CAIR's official website.
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Majeed, a software engineer of Indian heritage, joined Meta in 2018. According to the lawsuit, he believed that speaking in support of Palestinians during the Gaza crisis, including offering prayers, was an integral part of his religious duty.
The complaint notes that political discussions, including those about the war in Ukraine, racial justice movements, and sympathy for Israeli victims following the October 7, 2023 attacks, were visible on internal chat platforms without apparent consequence.
However, when Majeed shared views supportive of Palestinians—both internally and on social media—he allegedly faced disciplinary measures.
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These included formal warnings, deletions of his content, verbal admonishments, and threats of further punitive action.
CAIR contends that these actions were motivated by bias against Majeed’s religiously informed perspectives.
Meta has not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
Source: Agencies
