Portland State University accused of discriminating against Muslim research assistant

Portland State University is being sued by a former research assistant who claims that the university discriminated against him based on his race, ethnicity, and religion.

In the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on June 16, the lab assistant, who was a graduate student at PSU at the time, identifies as Black, Arab, and Muslim. Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim lawyer from Beaverton who was wrongfully named as a suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, is his lawyer.

The $950,000 lawsuit exacerbates PSU’s problems as it continues to deal with a number of issues arising from pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus last spring, during which students and others took over the university’s main library.

In August, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education began looking into whether PSU had broken anti-discrimination statutes and how the university handled leaflets that were thought to be anti-Islamic.

One of the initial targets of the Trump administration’s campaign against antisemitism on American college campuses was PSU in February. Additionally, the university garnered global notice this month when it placed a professor on leave after he was caught on camera proclaiming, “I am Hamas.” All of us belong to Hamas.

The former research assistant, Alaaeldin Eltayeb, claims that in the weeks following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, he was the target of Islamophobic microaggressions when a Ph.D. student falsely accused him of damaging lab equipment in which he worked.

The lawsuit alleges that Eltayeb was subjected to hostile treatment by engineering professors Jonathan Bird and Robert Bass following the charge, and that Bird dismissed him from the lab without consulting human resources or providing a chance for a dispute resolution process. Additionally, it asserts that PSU did not adequately address the behavior Eltayeb disclosed.

Requests for feedback from Bass and Bird were not answered. Regarding the lawsuit, a PSU representative chose not to comment.

However, Mayfield stated in an email that the purported errors indicate a more significant issue at PSU that necessitates change.

According to him, his case is not simply about individual wrongdoing; rather, it represents Portland State University’s larger inability to shield Black, Muslim, and Arab students from prejudice and reprisal.

Quinton Prudhomme works as a reporter for the breaking news and public safety teams. You may contact him at orqprudhomme@oregonian.com or 503-221-8002.

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