Ibtihaj Muhammad Wiki – Ibtihaj Muhammad Biography
Ibtihaj Muhammad, an American athlete who won an Olympic fencing medal in 2016, was sued by a school teacher named Tamar Herman for allegedly defaming her with an Instagram post, according to an NPR report. The fencer had made a post about Herman allegedly pulling on a seven-year-old girl’s hijab in the classroom that went viral and sparked outrage.
Muhammad, who became the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal and the first woman to represent the US at the Olympics in a hijab, shared the post in October 2021. According to the post, the girl told her mother that her second-grade teacher, Herman, “came up to her, grabbed her hijab, pulling it back, touching her face and hair” and pulled on her hijab.
Ibtihaj Muhammad Age
Ibtihaj Muhammad is 36 years old.
Incident Detail
This prompted the mother to write about her daughter’s accusations on Facebook. Muhammad shared the incident on social media, captioning her post: “Imagine being a kid and stripping your clothes off in front of your classmates? Imagine the humiliation and trauma this experience has caused you. This is abuse. Schools should be a haven for all of our children to feel safe, welcome and protected, no matter their faith.
We cannot move toward a post-racial America until we eliminate the racism and bigotry that still exist in all layers of our society. By protecting Muslim girls who wear the hijab, we are protecting the right of all of us to choose how we dress,” the Inquirer reported. In the lawsuit, which was filed in Union County Superior Court on Oct. 5, 2022, Herman, a veteran teacher with the South Orange-Maplewood School District, said Muhammad’s post was defamatory.
The teacher also sued the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, alleging that CEO Selaedin Maksut gave a libelous interview on ‘Good Morning America’ in which she asked to be fired from her over the incident. Herman claimed in court papers that she was placed on administrative leave, had to move out of her home and required police protection after Muhammad wrote about the allegation online, NJ reported.
The lawsuit alleges that Muhammad used photos of the teacher from her private Facebook page. The lawsuit stated: “As a result of the defendants’ fabricated claims, Herman’s reputation was impugned, she was subjected to threats to her physical safety, she was mercilessly bullied and ridiculed, she was shamed in local and national news articles, and she was humiliated in front of to your community.”
In justifying her action in her costume, Herman said he noticed that the student was wearing a hood that covered her eyes. “In an attempt to encourage the student to participate in her schoolwork since her eyes were partially blocked by the hood, Herman (asked) the student to remove her hood,” the lawsuit says.
He further mentioned that the negative publicity made it impossible for Herman to find another job. Therefore, Herman is seeking money judgments against Muhammad and CAIR in an amount to be determined in court, along with punitive damages and attorneys’ fees, according to the report.
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