Yasmeen Elagha, a 2024 Northwestern Pritzker graduate, filed a federal civil rights complaint in the Northern District of Illinois this week, alleging that DLA Piper fired her 26 days after she disclosed her Palestinian identity in onboarding paperwork. The complaint brings nine counts under Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 for race, national origin, and religion-based discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. According to Elagha, she was the only hijab-wearing employee at the firm during her 2023 summer associate stint, and while the firm knew she was Muslim, it did not know of her Palestinian heritage. She alleges that she was “repeatedly subjected to unsolicited interrogation by partners and associates regarding her race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, and views concerning Palestine and Israel.” She also alleges that she was told that another associate had been fired for supporting Palestine.
For DLA Piper’s part, they claim Elagha was fired for failing to disclose a criminal matter. Except… there is no criminal matter. There has, indeed, never been a criminal matter. Another student accused Elegah of assualt in connection with campus protests. Elagha “reported and disputed allegations that she assaulted another student and sought institutional review and investigation of those allegations.” Northwestern University investigated the allegations and determined that no assault occurred and that Elagha violated no university policy. The Illinois Board of Law Admissions asked Elagha about an alleged assault and after looking into it admitted Elagha to practice. Northwestern Pritzker’s dean personally wrote DLA Piper to confirm that there was no crime.
Despite faceplanting on the “failing to disclose a criminal matter” issue, DLA Piper maintained the termination anyway.
The complaint places this decision to fire Elagha in a broader context of an atmosphere of alleged anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination. From a press release announcing the complaint:
This filing does not occur in a vacuum. In November 2023, DLA Piper co-signed a letter to law school deans warning of recruiting consequences for students who did not adopt the firm’s position against Palestine. After Ms. Elagha’s termination, the firm hosted a CLE seminar where a speaker called Palestinians “devils” and associated Muslim and Arab organizations with terrorism
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https://abovethelaw.com/2026/05/dla-piper-sued-for-discrimination-after-firing-palestinian-lawyer/
