KLLF Wins Appeal to Reinstate Ex-Cop's Discrimination Case Against NYPD

The United States Court of Appeals ruled today that a lower court was wrong to throw out the employment discrimination claims of Mohamed Abdelal, an Egyptian-American former NYPD officer who was fired from the force by ex-Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Kelly and the NYPD subjected Mr. Abdelal to a lengthy, intrusive, and unjustified internal investigation that profiled him as a potential terrorist without any legitimate basis. In briefs and oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, KLLF argued that Mr. Abdelal should have the right to a civil trial on his claims that the NYPD treated him more harshly than it did non-Muslim, American-born officers accused of similar violations of departmental policy. The appellate court agreed and ordered the trial court to reopen the case “so that these critical factual disputes can be determined by a jury.”

KLLF’s David Lebowitz argued Mr. Abdelal’s case in the Court of Appeals, and was joined on the briefs by Alanna Kaufman.