NJ nurse alleges in lawsuit he was
fired for pro-Palestinian speech
NorthJersey.com
May 29, 2025, 4:16 a.m. ET
Key Points
A North
Jersey imam has filed a federal civil
rights lawsuit against
Hackensack Meridian Health
alleging he was wrongfully terminated from his job as
a nurse due to pro-Palestinian speech.
Khalil Adem alleges that he faced
discrimination, retaliation and defamation in violation of the Civil
Rights Act and the New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination.
Hackensack
Meridian said it could not comment on the matter because it is pending litigation.
A
North Jersey imam has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Hackensack
Meridian Health alleging
he was wrongfully terminated from his job as a nurse due to pro-Palestinian speech.
Khalil
Adem alleges that he faced discrimination, retaliation and defamation in
violation of the Civil Rights Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The complaint was filed
May 27 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Hackensack
Meridian hired Adem in 2013 — the lawsuit does not say at which location — as a
registered nurse and later promoted him to assistant nurse manager. In a decade
of employment, he had no complaints and received positive performance reviews,
the lawsuit says. That changed
in August 2024 when Adem, a
part-time imam at the Islamic Society of North Jersey in Flanders, delivered a
sermon that sparked complaints from pro-Israel and anti-Muslim groups.
In the sermon, Adem stated that “YouTube influencers are starting to expose Israel for what it is and asking why it is
controlling America," according to clips shared online.
He added
that “we’re not hating anybody
for their religion” and “we can narrow it down to Zionism, anybody with this
sort of mentality when they are causing brothers to turn against each other,
causing havoc, killing, murdering and then justifying, saying they are not like
us, they are the opposition.”
The Quran
teaches, he added,
that they will be "destroyed at the end" and that "their
time will come, and the Muslims will be the one to do it.”
The sermon was a reflection on the strife in Palestinian territories and religious teaching and that “bad acts
always come to an end,” said his attorney Omar Mohammedi, speaking on the
imam’s behalf. Adem was being punished for exercising his First Amendment
rights outside the workplace, he said.
Hackensack Meridian
put Adem on administrative leave on Sept. 12, 2024, pending
an investigation. He was fired six days later for allegedly violating the
health care company’s policies on discrimination, harassment and social media
conduct.
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In a
statement, Hackensack Meridian said it could not comment on the matter because
it is pending litigation. "Hackensack Meridian Health values its patients
and team members," said spokesperson Jessica Cohen Nussman.
"Providing a safe, inclusive and respectful environment
for all our patients and staff is our number one priority."
Pro-Israel
and anti-Muslim groups that shared clips of the sermon online alleged that he
had promoted hate speech and violence. They called for him to be fired. The
Mount Olive Police Department also visited Adem in response to a complaint
about the sermon, but did not launch any investigation or criminal action
after it reviewed the matter.
Clips
of the sermon were shared by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a group
that monitors public speech and press, and Jihad Watch, a right-wing website
run by Robert Spencer, whom the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty
Law Center have accused of promoting anti-Muslim conspiracies.
The
lawsuit was also filed against Hackensack Meridian Health administrators Linda
McHugh, executive vice president and chief experience and people officer;
Marwah Durum, regional human resource
manager; and Carmen
Cappello, director of human
resources.
Adem
also said he faced disparate treatment, in violation of state and federal law,
because employees who expressed pro-Israel views were not similarly questioned,
disciplined or dismissed. He also accused his employer of defaming him and
creating a hostile work environment. He is seeking
declaratory relief, back pay and damages.
“I was
wronged," Adem said in a statement. "I was terminated, subjected to a
hostile environment, and retaliated against. I was defamed, and a false
criminal complaint was filed
against me. I am a Muslim and a religious leader ... It is deeply painful to see that when I speak
out for justice, I am punished — while others, expressing contrary views, are
encouraged, or left alone.”