San Jose leaders OK $400,000 settlement with ex officer who alleged anti-Muslim harassment

SAN JOSE – A former San Jose police officer will receive a $400,000 payout to settle a lawsuit that claimed his colleagues subjected him to constant Islamophobic harassment.

The San Jose City Council approved the pre-trial settlement with Nabil Haidar on Tuesday.

The Lebanese-American officer sued the department in 2018, alleging he was the target of anti-Muslim remarks and insults that ramped up following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He claimed the comments associated him with radical organizations and car bombings, and that he was referred to with slurs attacking his background.

The city, for its part, argued Haidar was a willing participant and responded to the remarks in kind.

“Officer Haidar is a hero for taking on powers that be within the department, including the top command staff, in order to expose racism and Islamophobia,” Haidar’s Oakland-based attorney, Randall Strauss, said in a statement. “He fought this case for years in the face of intense pressure that ultimately cost him his career in order to seek justice for himself, his family and all victims of discrimination by police officers, his family and all victims of discrimination by police officers.”

In his suit, Haidar called attention to a briefing in November 2017, when a captain was recognizing veterans in the room and a sergeant allegedly stated, “Captain, you forgot to mention Nabil. He is an ISIS veteran. He was with ISIS for two years.”