Cisco accused of fostering a hostile workplace for Muslim and Arab employees

What the report says

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has determined that Cisco may have violated civil rights laws in how it treated Middle Eastern and Muslim employees, according to a letter reviewed by Al Jazeera. The agency’s June finding said the San Jose, California-based networking company subjected workers to a hostile environment amid anti-Arab and anti-Muslim comments on internal messaging platforms.

Al Jazeera reported that the case stems from a December 2024 complaint filed by a group of Cisco employees calling themselves Bridge to Humanity. The workers said they raised concerns after internal activism against the company’s technology sales to the Israeli military and later accused Cisco of removing an open letter from an internal site and failing to address harassment complaints. The employees also said some signatories were targeted after speaking out.

The complaint included allegations about offensive comments in a Jewish employee network chat and claimed that one employee was terminated because of involvement in pro-Palestinian efforts. A report shared with company offices and described in the article said the comments included praise for violence and demeaning remarks about Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. Cisco did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The article also said Legal Aid at Work has filed related complaints with the US National Labor Relations Board and the California Labor Commissioner, which are still pending. Advocacy groups, including CAIR, welcomed the EEOC finding as a potentially significant step for workplace protections tied to national origin, religion and political speech.