Where a man described himself as “Iraqi-American,” and described similarly situated employees as “non-Iraqi,” that was insufficient to support a claim for race discrimination.
Background
Maan Aljizzani alleges his former employer, Middle Eastern Broadcasting Networks Inc., or MBN, discriminated against him and terminated his employment on the basis of his race and national origin, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. MBN has filed a motion to dismiss.
Race discrimination
Defendant then argues that, because plaintiff has not alleged any facts regarding his own race or the race of any similarly situated employees, his race discrimination claim must fail. As the Fourth Circuit aptly noted, “[t]rying to draw clear distinctions between someone’s ethnicity and national origin can often amount to impossible hairsplitting.”
Nevertheless, plaintiff solely describes himself as “Iraqi-American” and similarly situated employees as “non-Iraqi,” which does not sufficiently support a race discrimination claim. As such, this court finds that plaintiff’s race discrimination claim cannot proceed beyond the motion to dismiss stage, and the court will focus on plaintiff’s remaining claim for national origin discrimination.
National origin discrimination
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