Lawyers for a Portland State University professor who has been on administrative leave since June say the university engaged in unlawful discrimination and retaliation against her.

PSU placed Yasmeen Hanoosh on paid administrative leave on June 6, after a video emerged online showing a conversation with her at a protest outside a Beaverton School District board meeting. In the edited clip, Hanoosh tells a counter protester, “I am Hamas. We are all Hamas,” as she gestured to others around her.

In the claim, filed Wednesday, lawyers say Hanoosh’s words were sarcastic, taken out of context and part of a one-on-one, private conversation.

Multiple criminal cases against PSU protesters dropped after attorneys discover footage

Hanoosh, a tenured professor who leads PSU’s Arabic program, attended the demonstration in support of a Beaverton school board member who was facing criticism for her pro-Palestinian views on social media. Counter protesters shouted “Hamas, Hamas” at demonstrators speaking at the meeting, according to the claim.

“It was in her personal capacity, on her personal time, that on June 2, 2025, Dr. Hanoosh attended a Beaverton School District Board meeting to support a board member who had been the subject of a targeted campaign of harassment for speaking out against the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza,” wrote Hanoosh’s counsel in the tort claim.

Her lawyers go on to say that they “believe PSU discriminated against Dr. Hanoosh based on her national origin and her protected First Amendment activity — off campus conduct on her private time, speaking as a private citizen.”

Portland State University suspends professor for video appearing to support Hamas

A Portland State spokesperson said the university cannot comment on the tort claim notice but did confirm that Hanoosh is still on administrative leave and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The claim also says the actions and non-actions taken by the university, including a public statement from PSU President Ann Cudd calling the video “reprehensible,” have caused harm to Hanoosh’s career and personal safety.

The professor’s lawyers say since the June incident, Hanoosh’s work email has been “flooded with hate mail and threats.” The claim says PSU officials made no attempt to contact Hanoosh about the video.

Hanoosh has taught at Portland State since 2010.

Trump administration targets Portland State for alleged antisemitism

Since 2024’s nationwide student protests over the war in Gaza, many universities have taken steps to revise free speech policies. And institutions’ treatment of students and faculty over free speech remains a source of great sensitivity as the Trump administration has targeted several colleges for allegedly allowing antisemitism on campus.

PSU’s policies note that the First Amendment protects speech, “no matter how offensive its content,” but that harassment, threats and incitement to violence are exceptions to free speech.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/03/psu-professor-tort-claim/