Last month, Mohammed A. Hussain went to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore for a medical procedure. Before it began, he wanted to pray; he alleges he was mistreated by a hospital security guard, who “proceeded to manhandle him, yell racial epithets at him, push him down the corridor and order him to exit the hospital.”
So, on Friday Hussain filed a $30 million lawsuit, alleging assault, battery and the ubiquitous emotional distress. But (you guessed) it:
Hussain’s attorney, David Ellin, said his client sued the hospital because he did not think executives were taking his case seriously enough.
“He felt the only way to get their attention and make any changes was to really put their feet to the fire and file a lawsuit,” Ellin said.
Ellin said Hussain’s aim with the suit is not to win compensation but to raise awareness about Islam and religious prejudices.
“This is really done to try to educate people on the religion of Islam and make people more tolerant and just educate them on different religious backgrounds,” Ellin said.
And if he happens to also get $30 million for it, hey, so much the better.
7 Comments
Yeah! This will make everyone like Muslims more!
There’s an easy way to prove it wasn’t about the money: if you win, give it all away. In fact, that’s the only way to prove it’s not about the money, and it’s what you’d do if it really wasn’t about the money.
More precisely, Hussain was washing his feet in the sink when the guard interrupted him.
I must say, as a muslim, this guy gives all reasonable muslims a bad name. Sure, I have a right to pray, but I don’t have a right to pray whenever and whereever I want to. If he wanted to pray at the hospital, he should have asked for permission and found a secluded spot. If he did all that, and the security guard still harrassed him, he may have a case… for about $5,000 (I feel generous) and an apology from the guard.
Anyway, because of the number of wacky lawsuits coming up recently, I just want to let everyone know that not all muslims assume that everyone else should bend over backwards everytime we want to pray.
“if you win, give it all away”
Actually, it would be reasonable to modify that to, “If you win, pay all your attorney and court fees with it, then give the rest away.”
Given that if even only 50% of the story is true then the guard probably still overreacted. But the hospital did attempt to resolve it with the good doctor and he still had his surgery on the same day. Aside – Let’s hope for the hospital’s sake they sent the guard for the requsite “sensitivity” training post-episode, otherwise they will have some explaining to do.
BUT, where in the constitution does it say anyone has to learn about anothers religion? And the article did state this is a private ritual, but he was clearly in a public place. And, if the hospital is owned by the state then the guard was only doing his best to keep the necessary separation of church and state.
This is a case where what’s egregious is the money. There are prayer spaces set aside in hospitals, but they tend not to have water available for ablutions. That’s what bathrooms are for.
So what you have is a security guard who found a guy washing his feet in a bathroom and thought it appropriate to manhandle and curse at him. That sounds actionable, if not to the tune of $30m.
“That sounds actionable”
No, it doesn’t. It sounds like the guard neds to be fired, and the person who was mildly and briefly mistreated needs to get over it.
Innappropriate behaviour that results in no harm needs no monetary reward.