Muslim Cop Claims Department Discriminated Against, Fired Him
NORTH CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Muslim police officer claimed his police department fired him after his discrimination claims were not addressed.
WBBM's Nancy Harty reports.
Ramtin Sabet said his fellow North Chicago police officers made derogatory comments about him being Iranian and a Muslim. They allegedly accused him of being a leader of ISIS and used other names.
"I would show up to calls, they said 'oh Mr. Taliban' pulled up here," he said.
Sabet said he filed a complaint in 2012 after five years of such harassment, including comments in front of members of the public. That supposedly did not change anything so he filed another one last year.
"Then they came back to me, they said 'you made derogatory racial comments to these officers as well.' I said I did not," he said.
Sabet claimed his supervisor accused him of making discriminatory comments against Jews. The North Chicago police department fired the Muslim officer last month.
Police Chief Richard Wilson denied his department discriminated against Sabet.
"North Chicago is a diverse community and the city embraces that diversity. Officer Sabet was terminated for violations of police department rules and regulations. He has challenged that determination. The city plans to vigorously defend its decision. We will not comment further pending litigation," he said in a prepared statement.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations will represent Sabet in his federal civil rights lawsuit. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the organization, said the Muslim officer did not request that anyone be fired or even disciplined. He just wanted the behavior to stop.
Sabet is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages and lost wages.
