Teacher accused of removing hijab sues Olympian, saying social media 'wrecked' her life

A teacher accused of yanking the hijab from the head of a second-grade student in the South Orange-Maplewood School District — an incident that provoked outrage across social media — has sued Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad for defamation.

Tamar Herman allegedly approached the student at her desk on Oct. 6 last year and grabbed her hijab, pulling it back and exposing her uncovered head to the class. Herman claimed it was a misunderstanding. She thought the student was wearing a form-fitting hijab under her hood and wanted to uncover her eyes, the teacher said.

The incident set off a national firestorm when Muhammad, a Maplewood native and the first Muslim American Olympian to compete for the U.S. in a hijab, posted about it on Instagram. Muhammad wrote that the student had her hijab “forcibly removed” by Herman and described it as abuse. People expressed outrage on social media and the district was flooded with calls and emails over the incident.

“Herman had her reputation impugned, she was targeted with threats to her physical safety, was mercilessly bullied and ridiculed, was shamed in local and national news articles, and humiliated in front of her community,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint was filed in Union County Superior Court on Oct. 5. In the lawsuit, Herman said Muhammad’s post was defamatory and is seeking unspecified damages. Herman also sued the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which called for her to be fired over the incident in a press release, and its executive director Selaedin Maksut.

In a statement, CAIR-NJ wrote that it could not comment yet on the filing, which legal counsel had to review. The organization added: “However, we must continue to strongly stand by this student, who had the clear constitutional right to cover her hair for religious reasons without physical interference or humiliation.”

Muhammad, who won a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics, is known as an advocate for Muslim women, fighting stereotypes and discrimination. A Barbie doll was made in her likeness in 2017.

“Imagine the humiliation and trauma this experience has caused her,” Muhammed wrote in her post about the child. “This is abuse. School should be a haven to all of our kids to feel safe, welcome and protected — no matter their faith.

Herman said she re-set the hood as soon as she realized the child was not wearing a hijab underneath and apologized immediately. The child’s family disputes that account.

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In a lawsuit filed in April in Essex County Superior Court, the family said the teacher told her she could not wear the hijab, touched her hair and said that her natural hair was beautiful.  The family said the child wore the same hijab every day. The family alleged that the child’s religious rights were violated and she suffered “emotional harm.” The case is pending.

A third lawsuit has also been filed in connection with the incident. On Oct. 4, Herman sued the South Orange-Maplewood School District and Fiedeldey Consulting, which partners with schools to support students' mental health. She claimed they violated her right to due process and anti-discrimination laws because the district didn’t respond to online anti-Jewish harassment and threats after the incident. She alleged the district treated her in a disparate way because of her faith.

Herman said the backlash she faced took a toll on her and made her afraid to leave home.

At the time of the incident, Gov. Phil Murphy weighed in on Twitter, saying he was “deeply disturbed by these accusations.”  An online petition calling for her dismissal amassed more than 40,000 signatures, the lawsuit noted.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, which oversees bias allegations in the county, investigated the incident but declined to charge Herman, citing insufficient evidence.

A year later, Herman said she remains on administrative leave with her employment status “in limbo.” She said she suffered trauma as a result of the backlash she faced and that her life had been turned “upside down.”

The social media firestorm “transformed a minor interaction that would have been resolved in favor of Herman into a national news story that wrecked Herman’s life and from which she has not recovered,” the lawsuit states.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ teacher who removed hijab sues Olympian over social media post