Victory! MLFA’s Civil Litigation Department secured a settlement award for its client Mr. Said El Hamdani in his national origin discrimination lawsuit against the University of New Mexico, and Professor Stephen Burd. As part of the agreement, Mr. El Hamdani will receive $55,000, and UNM agreed to provide annual training to its faculty on implicit bias and cultural sensitivity.
Mr. El Hamdani is a U.S. citizen born in Morocco who keeps in touch with his family there. As a UNM student, Mr. El Hamdani applied for a scholarship that would allow him to pursue his chosen profession in cybersecurity. The scholarship required the ability to obtain a top secret or higher security clearance. Professor Burd denied Mr. El Hamdani the scholarship, because he believed Mr. El Hamdani’s family contacts in Morocco made him less likely to be able to obtain the required security clearance. MLFA’s attorneys brought suit against UNM and Professor Burd for violating Title VI and Section 1981, by denying Mr. El Hamdani a fair chance at a scholarship due to his national origin, race, and religion. After the close of discovery, Mr. El Hamdani and the defendants agreed to settle the case for a monetary settlement and UNM’s commitment to cultural sensitivity and implicit bias training. MLFA welcomed the chance to work with Mr. El Hamdani and secure this award for him, and we welcome the opportunity to hold schools accountable for violating Title VI.
