“Cisco probably violated Middle Eastern and Muslim employees’ civil rights, US agency finds”

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency tasked with enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, has found that Cisco, the global tech company, probably violated the civil rights of Middle Eastern, Muslim and other company employees…

Complaints filed by employees in December 2024 detailed how, following the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel, a Cisco internal communications platform was filled with racist and Islamophobic messages, which escalated after more than 1,700 employees signed a public letter challenging the tech giant’s ties to the Israeli government…

Margaret Ly, local director of the EEOC’s San Jose office, wrote in a 9 June letter that following an investigation the office determined that “there is reasonable cause to believe that [Cisco] subjected a class of individuals to a hostile work environment based on their national origin (Middle Eastern), religion (Muslim), and/or their association with Muslim and/or Middle Eastern individuals, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”.

A spokesperson for Cisco wrote in a statement to the Guardian that the company “disagree[d]” with the EEOC’s determination. “Cisco thoroughly investigated all concerns and took appropriate action,” the spokesperson said…