Judge questions why partners faced no discipline for similar posts
Case against major law firm heads to trial over rescinding Muslim attorney's offer while partners whose posts violated firm values faced no discipline.
The decision, handed down January 26, puts Foley & Lardner on track for a jury trial over whether it treated a Muslim Arab attorney differently than her colleagues who posted inflammatory content about Palestinians.
Jinan Chehade had every reason to expect she would start her legal career at Foley & Lardner's Chicago office on October 23, 2023. She had sailed through her summer associate program the year before and accepted a full-time offer. But a week before her start date, everything fell apart.
The trouble began when a recruiting assistant at the firm searched for Chehade online, ostensibly looking for a photo for the new associate directory. What she found instead were Chehade's social media posts about the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Chehade, who grew up in Bridgeview, Illinois, known as Little Palestine, had posted that day about colonization being inherently violent and supporting Palestinian resistance. A few days later, at a Chicago City Council meeting, she called the Hamas attack a natural response to 75 years of occupation.
The posts landed on the desks of firm leadership, including Chairman Daljit Doogal and former Managing Partner Stanley Jaspan. At first, several leaders thought no action was warranted. Jaspan even said a...
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