- Lori Saroya filed a lawsuit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
- CAIR's director said he was “happy” after the Hamas terrorist attack in October
- The group's leadership has previously been accused of harassment
A nationally recognized Muslim group that was expelled by the White House over its director's response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks is now accused of fostering an environment of sexual harassment.
Former Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) senior leader Lori Saroya, 42, accused the group's leadership of sexual assault and harassment in a federal defamation lawsuit in Minnesota last week.
CAIR was dropped amid the Biden administration's efforts to develop a national anti-Semitism strategy after co-founder and director Nihad Awad said he was “happy” after Hamas terrorists carried out an attack in Israel last October.
Soroya's lawsuit is in response to a January 2022 press release from CAIR that accused her of “waging a systematic and continuous internet defamation campaign intended to cause harm.” [CAIR’s] “To damage his reputation and cause him serious economic damage.”
Soroya says she left CAIR after she asked the organization to investigate assault and harassment claims against several executives, including one from Soroya herself who claimed an executive behaved toward her in an “unwelcome and highly inappropriate manner.” The man she accused was not named.
Former senior leader of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Lori Saroya, 42, has accused the group's leadership of sexual assault and harassment
CAIR was dropped amid the Biden administration's efforts to develop a national anti-Semitism strategy after director Nihad Awad said he was “happy” following Hamas' attack on Israel in October
In its own defamation lawsuit filed in 2021, CAIR previously accused Soroya of “internet stalking” employees and using fake email addresses and social media accounts to promote “Islamophobic tropes and conspiracy theories” about the controversial group to spread.
CAIR's lawsuit, which they themselves dismissed, alleged that Soroya “voluntarily resigned” after an employee said Soroya harassed her so much that the alleged victim considered seeking a restraining order.
Soroya, a Blaine City Council member, claims that she was bullied online because of CAIR's allegations and that she was too afraid to go to her mosque. She also claims the allegations may have impacted her job interviews at the time, the Star Tribune reported.
Her lawsuit alleges that CAIR's claims are “egregiously false” and that the organization is engaging in a “concerted effort to denigrate her reputation” and silence her.
“The complaint details serious problems within an organization that claims to be a civil rights organization but, as the complaint makes clear, has engaged in a pattern of conduct that is precisely the opposite,” Soroya’s attorney, Jeff Robbins, told The New York Post Office.
In April 2021, an NPR investigation made allegations of bullying and sexual harassment against CAIR's then head of Florida division, Hassan Shably
CAIR, the country's largest Muslim civil rights group, has been rocked by allegations of sexual assault and harassment, unclear funding and anti-Semitism.
In April 2021, an NPR investigation raised bullying and sexual harassment allegations against then-head of CAIR's Florida division, Hassan Shably, who has denied any wrongdoing.
Soroya was one of the organization's rising stars, serving as chair of the Minnesota chapter from 2007 to 2016 before moving to the state office.
She is seeking at least $75,000 in damages and asking CAIR to retract the press release accusing her of harassment and remove it from all public spaces.
When reached out to us for comment on Thursday, CAIR referred us to the same 2022 press release in which it claimed Soroya was a disgruntled employee and accused her of working with anti-Muslim extremists to bring down CAIR.
Muslim group CAIR stopped by the White House in joy over the Oct. 7 massacre and is facing a SEX SCANDAL after its former female leader said male bosses were sex pests