A Georgia State University professor and a former student accuse the institution of being anti-Muslim. They say GSU retaliated against them after they complained about racist remarks from faculty member.
Georgia State professor Dona Stewart said that last August one of her instructors who is Muslim- American asked her what to do about these racial remarks from another professor: “Things like was she carrying any bombs under her Islamic head scarf these were outrageous comments in public.”
Stewart told Selma Shelbayah to file an official complaint to the department dean. After that the professor apologized to the student, but a day later, Stewart said that the dean told her to fire Shelbayah, and she refused.
“I mean at that point, you have to realize, she’s a state employee. She’s under contract,” said Stewart. “If I had removed her from that position without cause without due process, I would have committed an illegal act and I could have been held accountable for it.”
Stewart believes because she didn’t comply, she herself was punished academically. At the time, she was the director of the Middle Eastern Institute. She’s since resigned.
“All institutional development of the institute came to a halt,” Stewart said, “I was told there was no energy for Middle Eastern studies on campus.”
Both Stewart and Shelbayah filed separate discrimination complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year.
GSU is complying with the investigation and refutes the charges. GSU spokesperson Andrea Jones said, “In no way was retaliation taken against Stewart or the student as a result of the complaint.”
Jones said that because of federal privacy guidelines, the college can’t provide more details, but she pointed out that despite Stewart’s resignation... “She is still an employee of GSU and in April was promoted to full professor and had the dean’s full support on that.”
Meanwhile, Stewart and Shelbayah’s lawyer James Radford, said it doesn’t look like the EEOC is going to take action. “They’re not at a point that they are going to act to enforce Title Seven,” said Radford. “They’re not going to go to court.
Title 7 prohibits discrimination at the workplace. So, Radford said that his clients will sue if GSU doesn’t settle.
