When graduating University of Chicago senior Rayna Acha heard about the lawsuit filed by a Lebanese American attorney alleging a job offer from a national law firm was rescinded because of her pro-Palestinian views on Gaza, the revocation confirmed one of her worst fears.
“The reality is we might not get jobs because of (our activism),” said Acha, an undergraduate anthropology major at the U. of C. and an organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine.
Acha has more than one reason to worry. She is one of four U. of C. students whose degrees were withheld because of their involvement with the university’s pro-Palestinian encampment calling on the institution to sever its financial ties to Israel.
A U. of C. spokesman has said the school cannot comment on individual student disciplinary matters, but said that the process is standard practice after a formal complaint is reviewed by the university’s Disciplinary Committee. Meanwhile, over the weekend, hundreds of students and faculty walked out of U. of C.’s convocation over the university’s actions.
“All four of us aren’t employed yet,” Acha said. “I’m in this situation now where I have to find a job to support myself but I also need to continue to fight for the things I need to fight for.”
The fear of long-term professional consequences has been a source of concern for pro-Palestinian students out protesting, though several of them, including Acha, plan to enter professions well served by activism such as community organizing, nonprofit work, politics or academia.
“We have some universities, like U. of C., that are pledging that they are going to protect student speech and the presidents (of these universities) recently have been saying that more than their policies actually do that, but at least they’re saying it,” said Kimberly Yuracko, a Judd and Mary Morris Leighton Professor of Law at Northwestern University who specializes in antidiscrimination and employment law. “But I’ve just not heard of a single private sector employer that has said they will contractually protect speech in accordance with the First Amendment. Maybe there’s one out there, but I’ve not seen it.”
Jinan Chehade, the lawyer who filed a complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court, said the law firm, Foley & Lardner, discriminated against her because of her Arab Muslim background and political statements she’d made on social media and at public meetings about Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and the ensuing crisis in Palestine.
“It was devastating when they turned against me and vilified me in this way when I really respected their supposed commitment to diversity,” Chehade told the Tribune on Thursday.
Yuracko said because employers like Foley & Lardner can rescind employment offers for any reason, cases such as Chehade’s would not fall under a breach of contract.
According to the complaint, Chehade, a Georgetown Law School graduate, had been interning with Foley & Lardner in July 2022 when they offered her a full-time position to begin in fall 2023. Then, 13 hours before she was set to start work, she was fired, according to the complaint.The Sunday before her first scheduled day of work, Foley & Lardner managers asked her to come to the office where she said they interrogated her for two hours “in a very hostile manner,” according to the lawsuit.
“As soon as we all sat down, they pulled out a packet of about 15 to 20 pages with screenshots of my social media posts, about speeches that I’ve made, about my background, my identity,” Chehade told the Tribune. “When I really started to feel the anxiety and panic was when they asked me about my dad, and where he worked — and obviously as a child of immigrants, a big law firm asking you about your father … alarm bells just started going off in my head.” Chehade’s father serves as communications director of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview.
The complaint also alleges that several Foley & Lardner partners openly and publicly supported the actions of Israel toward Palestinians in Gaza without facing consequences.
In an emailed statement Friday, a Foley & Lardner representative said they believed Chehade’s complaint was “without merit.”
“We stand behind our decision to rescind Ms. Chehade’s employment offer as a result of the statements she made surrounding the horrendous attacks by Hamas on October 7,” a firm representative said.
Chehade’s claim is actionable, Yuracko said, because she is arguing that she’s being discriminated against based on race or national origin, not just based on her political view.
Yuracko said that if a company wants to not hire a person because of opposing viewpoints, “viewpoint discrimination by a private employer is fine.”
“But what’s legally problematic is if they’re treating people who, let’s say, engage in protests, who are race A, differently than people who engage in protests who are of race B,” she said.
Acha, who is Black and was a vocal organizer of the protest encampment for Gaza at U. of C., said she’s noticed a differential treatment of people who are pro-Palestine compared to those that are pro-Israel.
“For example, there were certain students who were so actively harassing us during the encampment who have now received their degrees,” she said.
Jeffrey Sun, a literature major at U. of C. who is graduating this summer, said he plans to find a job that aligns with his values and his social work, which includes continuing to raise awareness about Palestine. He said the current climate might put pressure on private sector employers who will likely be faced with job candidates and clients who are clear and confident about the issues they support.
“So many of us are pro-Palestine — my friends and I once went on a university-sponsored trip to L.A. and there was a restaurant that had Israeli flags, and I remember we just all agreed to not eat there and got up and left,” Sun said. “I think we’re making it very uncomfortable for private businesses, and businesses are becoming more aware that we don’t consider our work separate from our lives.”
But not everyone has the same type of privilege to pick and choose their job prospects, he said.
Acha, who comes from a lower-income background, said she’s considering scrubbing her social media platforms while she looks for work, even though her accounts are private.
Yuracko said more student activists should consider doing the same. She said employers generally want to hire people who can fit into their company culture, rather than be agents of change.
Acha and the three other students whose degrees were held back still participated in graduation, and hope to get their degrees after a resolution in the disciplinary process. But if the Standing Disciplinary Committee on Disruptive Conduct finds that certain policies were violated, their degrees could be denied despite four years of coursework and a staggering tuition.
“I want to be hopeful for what the next chapter looks like away from the university,” Acha said. “But it’s terrifying to not know what’s next and to not have my future lined up because I’m choosing to fight for what’s right and choosing to fight for humanity.”
Chicago Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky contributed.