She got a merit letter in August. By January, her sacred texts were in a box
A federal lawsuit alleges Northwestern University fired its long-serving Muslim chaplain for speaking up about discrimination on campus.
The complaint, filed October 26 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, accuses Northwestern of systematically retaliating against the chaplain - a 15-year employee - after she raised concerns about the treatment of Arab and Muslim students and staff, requested religious and disability accommodations, and filed formal discrimination complaints.
The case is Ahmad v. Northwestern University, case number 26-cv-13176. A jury trial has been demanded.
A career built over 15 years
The chaplain joined Northwestern in 2010 as an associate university chaplain in the Department of Religious and Spiritual Life, according to the filing. She was promoted to director of interfaith engagement and associate chaplain in 2014. The complaint describes her as a respected campus figure who was selected to deliver the invocation at Northwestern's 2020 commencement ceremony. As recently as August 2024, the filing states, Northwestern issued her a merit letter acknowledging satisfactory performance for the 2023-2024 cycle.
Then things started to unravel.
The first complaints
In early 2023, according to the complaint, the chaplain reported to Northwestern's human resources department and its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) that her supervisor had harassed and discriminated against her on the basis of pregnancy, race, and religion. Among the alleged remarks: "do you think you will transition into full-time motherhood?" and "Do you think we should hire someone while you are away?"
The complaint also alleges the supervisor "abruptly reduced funding for Ramadan and prayer space accommodations for Muslim students and staff on campus without prior notice," while facilities for other faiths were unaffected. During a meeting about the cuts, the filing states, the supervisor "compared Muslim students to 'dogs.'"
The university's OCR subsequently found the use of "dogs" to be "offensive," according to the complaint. But the filing alleges Northwestern took no corrective action, did not restore funding, and did not address the prayer space gap.
What came next, according to the complaint, was retaliation. The filing alleges the supervisor isolated the chaplain from colleagues, excluded her from staff meetings, and cut her out of the University Baccalaureate - a key part of her role.
Speaking up during the war in Gaza
The complaint tracks a series of escalating events through late 2023 and 2024, set against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
The chaplain organized meetings with senior university officials to address what she described as an increasingly hostile climate for Arab and Muslim students and staff, the filing states. During one meeting with Northwestern's president, the complaint alleges, the president "exhibited marked and unwarranted hostility" toward her.
After those meetings, the filing states, a senior vice president warned the chaplain "against speaking out again about the war in Gaza and the discriminatory and hostile climate on campus." The complaint alleges the same official later reprimanded her for signing a ceasefire petition, told her she could no longer engage in "such activities," and said the university was being pressured by "certain groups" to fire her.
In May 2024, according to the complaint, the chaplain was formally disciplined for signing the petition and demoted - her title of "Director" was removed. The filing alleges her similarly situated peers were promoted or given higher titles in the same restructuring.
A holiday called a "summer activity"
One of the more pointed allegations involves the Muslim holiday Eid. The complaint states the chaplain told her new supervisor in April 2024 that a staff retreat was likely to fall on Eid-ul-Adha and asked for the date to be changed. The supervisor refused, the filing alleges.
When the chaplain took the holiday instead of attending the retreat, the complaint alleges the supervisor dismissed Eid as her "summer activity." The filing states the chaplain told her supervisor the remark was inappropriate. Several months later, according to the complaint, that absence was used as a factor in disciplinary action and ultimately in her termination.
"Off script"
In October 2024, the complaint states, students asked the chaplain to speak at a prayer vigil for civilian deaths in Palestine and Lebanon. Her supervisor approved but warned her not to go "off script."
The chaplain gave a Quran reading and a short reflection on justice, which was covered by the campus newspaper. Two days later, the filing alleges, the supervisor "was visibly angry, yelled at" the chaplain, stated she had been warned, and threatened to fire her.
The complaint alleges the supervisor then issued a negative performance review for a period she had previously said she would not evaluate - and that the review "contained numerous false statements." The filing also quotes the supervisor as warning: "we serve at the pleasure of the president" and that further public statements "could impact your livelihood."
Following another formal complaint to the OCR, the filing states, the supervisor required the chaplain to send a Microsoft Teams message when she started and finished each workday - a level of monitoring not required in her prior 15 years and not imposed on her peers.
Disability accommodation, then termination
In December 2024, according to the complaint, the chaplain requested a disability accommodation for a knee condition - Advanced Fourth-Stage Patellar Chondromalacia - that limited her mobility. She provided medical documentation recommending remote work until February 2025.
Northwestern denied the request, the filing alleges, granting just one week of remote work and then requiring her to come in during that week anyway.
On January 8, 2025, the complaint states, the university's ADA compliance office confirmed the chaplain's medical documentation was complete and said it would finalize the accommodation with her supervisors. Two days later, Northwestern fired her.
Sacred texts in a box
The complaint's account of the termination is striking. The filing alleges the university barred the chaplain from returning to her office to collect personal belongings, including sacred religious texts she had used in her chaplaincy. According to the complaint, university staff "unilaterally packed up her belongings outside her presence and indiscriminately threw her sacred texts in a box, and in so doing, mishandled and desecrated them, knowing the significance, meaning and impact this would have."
After the termination, the filing states, Northwestern "rescinded a prior agreement to fund a Center for Muslim Life and defunded other initiatives" the chaplain had championed.
What the chaplain is claiming
The complaint brings eight counts: retaliation and discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, failure to provide religious accommodation under Title VII, retaliation under Title VI (which applies to federally funded institutions - the filing notes Northwestern receives "hundreds of millions of dollars annually" in federal grants), discrimination and retaliation under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and interference, discrimination and retaliation under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The chaplain is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, back pay, front pay or reinstatement, and injunctive relief.
For HR teams, the case is a reminder of how quickly overlapping exposure can build when internal complaints, accommodation requests, and advocacy intersect - and when the employer's response to each, as alleged here, follows a pattern of discipline rather than engagement.
The allegations in this complaint have not been tested, and no court has made any findings or rulings on the merits.
