Muslim nurse alleges racial discrimination by Filipino supervisor

LOS ANGELES – A Muslim nurse has settled his lawsuit against the state Department of Veterans Affairs, in which he maintained that he was fired in retaliation for complaining that an administrator gave favorable treatment to Filipinos and whites, attorneys told a judge Monday.

Ali Mohamed’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged national, racial and disability discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation.

On Monday, lawyers in the case informed Judge Colin Leis that the case was resolved, but no terms were revealed. The judge vacated the scheduled Oct. 7 trial date.

In their earlier court papers, DVA attorneys denied Mohamed’s claims and said the suit should be dismissed. The defense lawyers cited multiple defenses, including governmental immunity and that any actions taken concerning Mohamed were done so for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons.

Mohamed was born in Somalia and arrived in the US as a young adult in 1979, according to his court papers. He worked in numerous business and government jobs and received a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2005, the suit stated.

He was hired by CalVet in November 2018 as a supervising registered nurse and reported to the facility’s Filipino administrator, who favored people of his own background as well as whites, the suit filed in August 2020 alleged.

Although the administrator admitted that Mohamed was doing satisfactory work, he treated the plaintiff “with hostility due his race and African ethnicity,” the same way he did other employees of African origin, the suit alleged.

The administrator embarrassed Mohamed by yelling at him and once yanked paperwork out of his hand in front of co-workers, according to the suit, which alleged the administrator admitted he yelled at Mohamed but blamed the plaintiff for making him mad.

The administrator also acknowledged he did not allow Mohamed to take classes to acquire various skills, but then blamed the plaintiff for not being properly trained, the suit alleged.

Federal complaint v. Filipino supervisor

Mohamed’s complaints to management about his treatment were ignored, so he filed a federal complaint against the Filipino administrator who allegedly mistreated him, claiming discrimination and harassment based on his race, the suit stated.

He alleged the administrator’s misconduct toward him intensified as a result of the filing of the complaint, and he was placed on medical leave from July to August 2019 due to work-related stress that made him sick.

Mohamed maintains that the filing of his federal complaint motivated the administrator who allegedly harassed him to tell another manager that the plaintiff was a “problem employee” who “could not be trusted,” the suit stated.

“As such, while plaintiff was on a medical leave, defendants were looking to retaliate against plaintiff for having complained about defendants’ discriminatory practices,” the suit alleged.

Mohamed returned to work in August 2019 and the Filipino administrator reduced his performance ratings during his evaluation the next month, stating he needed improvement in eight of 10 categories, the suit stated.

Up until he was fired in May 2020, CalVet management “continued to falsely discipline” Mohamed by writing him up for various incidents that did not happen or were unrelated to him, the suit alleged. (CNS)