A Palestinian Muslim lawyer is suing law firm DLA Piper for discrimination, saying it unlawfully terminated her employment offer after seeing press reports about her role in pro-Palestinian protests.
Yasmeen Elagha is seeking damages for race, religion, and national origin-based bias in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She also claims the firm created a hostile working environment during the time she worked there as a summer associate between her second and third years at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law.
Elagha previously sued Northwestern for allegedly failing to protect her from intentional discrimination after November 2023 pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. A federal judge dismissed several of her claims but gave her a chance to amend her complaint to cure its defects; the case is still pending.
She was the only hijab-wearing employee at DLA Piper during her stint as a summer associate there in 2023, and firm members knew she was Muslim, but not Palestinian or Arab, she said. Another associate warned her to hide her Palestinian identity because the firm’s leaders were very pro-Israel, she said in Monday’s complaint.
During the summer she was repeatedly interrogated about her race, ethnicity, national origin, and views regarding Israel and Palestine, was told another associate had been fired for discussing or supporting Palestine, and warned that the firm didn’t tolerate support for Palestine, she said. She also alleged she was pressured to attend activities centered around alcohol consumption, even though firm members knew that she didn’t drink alcohol because of her religious beliefs.
In August 2023, DLA Piper offered her a full-time position beginning in October 2024 after her law school graduation, which she accepted.
The firm stopped answering Elagha’s inquiries about the position after learning about her participation in the campus demonstrations, and she later learned that firm members had publicly condemned Palestine. The firm terminated her employment in July 2024.
A spokeswoman for DLA Piper said there was no unlawful discrimination. “The firm decided against hiring Ms. Elagha as a result of her own unacceptable conduct.”
Abraham Law & Consulting LLC, Naser Legal LLC, and Bahour Law PLLC represent Elagha.
The case is Elagha v. DLA Piper LLP, N.D. Ill., No. 26-cv-5435, complaint filed 5/11/26.
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