Foley & Lardner, a law firm with roots in Milwaukee, withdrew a job offer made to Georgetown Law School graduate Jinan Chehade due to her public comments following the Hamas attack on Israel. The firm’s spokesperson cited the move as motivated by Chehade’s public statements which the firm believed breached their core values. The specific public statements that led to this decision, however, have not been disclosed by the firm. The offer withdrawal came just before Chehade’s intended start date in October.
In response to this move by Foley, Chehade has taken legal action. A discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was filed by Chehade on November 13. According to her lawyer Rima Kapitan, Chehade is accusing the law firm of illegal retaliation and of discriminating on the basis of nationality and religion. Plans are also in motion for Chehade to file a lawsuit in a federal court in Chicago where she was originally scheduled to begin her position at Foley.
In the EEOC charge, Chehade claims that her social media posts, which were perceived by Foley to be endorsing violence, were misrepresented and that her true intention was to express support for Palestinian freedom. Chehade made these claims public in an interview with Democracy Now, during which she also argued that she was singled out as “one of the only visibly Arab Muslim women associates in the law firm nationwide.”
Recent instances of job offers being revoked by corporate law firms in relation to comments about the Israel-Palestine conflict have been on the rise. Foley is not the first law firm to react in this manner. Both Winston & Strawn and Davis Polk & Wardwell made similar decisions in October. Winston & Strawn rescinded a job offer to a law student from New York University for refusing to denounce Palestinian resistance, following the Hamas attack. Davis Polk & Wardwell also revoked job offers from three leaders of groups from Harvard and Columbia universities, the groups having attributed responsibility for the attack to Israel.
These instances of job offer withdrawals and dismissals over comments related to the Israel-Palestine conflict are contributing to a broader debate about free speech within law firms and law schools.
Responses to such instances have varied. While over 200 law firms issued a letter on November 13 calling for a firm stance against antisemitic harassment on campuses, other groups of Muslim American lawyers have criticized these firms for their failure to also address discrimination against Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim populations.
Despite this, certain individuals who have criticized the stance of law firms against comments related to the Israel-Palestine conflict have faced repercussions. For instance, an associate at Sidley Austin, who criticized law firms for equating antisemitism with questions about Israel’s legitimacy, was reportedly fired after refusing to remove a post published on the website Medium, according to The American Lawyer.
You can read the full article at Bloomberg Law News.