--- title: "Muslim Teacher Wins $605K After Veil Firing by Nonprofit" meta: "og:description": "Federal jury awarded a Muslim ESL instructor $605,471 after her employer fired her for refusing to remove her veil during virtual classes amid COVID-19. " "og:title": "Muslim Teacher Wins $605K After Veil Firing by Nonprofit " description: "Federal jury awarded a Muslim ESL instructor $605,471 after her employer fired her for refusing to remove her veil during virtual classes amid COVID-19. " --- April 9, 2026 # **Muslim Teacher Wins $605K After Veil Firing by Nonprofit ** Federal jury awarded a Muslim ESL instructor $605,471 after her employer fired her for refusing to remove her veil during virtual classes amid COVID-19. [**Labor and Employment Law**](https://exlitem.com/jury-verdict/muslim-teacher-wins-605k-after-veil-firing-by-nonprofit-/jury-verdict/category/labor-and-employment-law) [**Discrimination**](https://exlitem.com/jury-verdict/muslim-teacher-wins-605k-after-veil-firing-by-nonprofit-/jury-verdict/category/discrimination) ### **Outline** Author ![](https://media.jurimatic.com/cdn-cgi/image/q=70/profile_images/shared_image_1.webp) **Sohini Chakraborty****Sohini Chakraborty is a lawyer, with over two years of experience in legal research and analysis. She specializes in working closely with expert witnesses, offering critical support in preparing legal research and detailed case studies.** ![Article Image](https://media.jurimatic.com/cdn-cgi/image/q=70/images/Hamood.webp) A Michigan federal jury delivered a powerful verdict in favor of Sudoos Hamood, a Muslim-American single mother and English instructor who lost her job after refusing to remove her veil while teaching virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamood worked for the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) since 2016 and offered three reasonable accommodations when her employer demanded she teach on camera with her face uncovered. ACCESS rejected every option and fired her for insubordination in October 2021. After a trial before Judge Linda V. Parker, the jury found ACCESS failed to reasonably accommodate Hamood's sincere religious beliefs and rejected the nonprofit's claim that doing so would have caused undue hardship. Jurors awarded $1.8 million in damages, later reduced to $605,471 after the Court applied Title VII's statutory cap based on ACCESS's employee count of more than 500 workers. ## **Case Background** Sudoos Hamood, a Muslim-American single mother of five, worked for the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) starting in December 2016. Over the years, she moved up from a paraprofessional role to teaching English as a Second Language to adult women learners. As part of her religious practice, she wore a veil and believed she should not show her face to men outside her immediate family. When the COVID-19 pandemic pushed classes online in 2020, she continued teaching virtually — initially with her camera off. Trouble started in September 2021. ACCESS told Hamood she needed to turn her camera on and remove her face covering while teaching. She offered three compromises: keep the camera off, wear her veil on camera, or teach an all-female class in person without the veil. ACCESS rejected every option and fired her on October 9, 2021, calling it insubordination. Hamood filed a charge with the EEOC in January 2022, received her right-to-sue letter, and took ACCESS to federal Court in February 2023. ### **Cause** Hamood sued ACCESS for religious discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and failure to accommodate her religious beliefs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA). ### **Injury** Hamood lost her job, her income, and her benefits. She suffered emotional distress, humiliation, mental anguish, and damage to her reputation after the termination. ### **Damages Sought** Hamood asked the Court for lost wages (back pay and front pay), compensatory damages, punitive damages under Title VII, exemplary damages under the ELCRA, attorney's fees, costs, and injunctive relief requiring ACCESS to stop its discriminatory practices. ## **Key Arguments and Proceedings** ### **Legal Representation** **Plaintiff:** Sudoos Hamood · **Counsel for Plaintiff:** Anna Sofia Kozak | Matthew R Gunter | Michael N. Hanna **Defendant:** Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) · **Counsel for Defendant:** Christina M. Grossi | Matthew J. Schneider | George B. Washington ## **Key Arguments and Remarks by Counsel** ### **Claims** Hamood's lawyers argued that ACCESS knew she wore a veil for religious reasons and still refused to work with her. They pointed out that ACCESS never investigated her September 22, 2021, complaint about religious discrimination. During a meeting with the Director of Human Resources, Mosein Hussein, Hamood explained her religious beliefs and offered solutions. According to the complaint, Hussein dismissed her concerns and said, "I don't wanna talk about religion," and told her the issue was not religious. Her attorneys stressed that other teachers at the time taught classes wearing face masks, and that Hamood's class size grew from about 10 students to 30 students during the pandemic. They argued ACCESS gave her only two options: remove her veil or lose her job. When she refused to compromise her faith, the company fired her. The complaint also noted that several other employees previously filed religious discrimination complaints against ACCESS. ### **Defense** ACCESS pushed back hard. The organization argued the case was not about whether Hamood could wear a veil, but specifically about whether she could wear the niqab — a full facial covering — while teaching English remotely to newly-arrived Arabic-speaking women during the COVID-19 pandemic. ACCESS pointed out that it already culturally accommodated the class by making it women-only with a female instructor. ACCESS explained why it denied both of her requests. In-person classes were not safe in fall 2021 because COVID cases were rising again, many immigrant students were unvaccinated, the building lacked space for social distancing, and ACCESS had closed its facilities to family members. As for teaching remotely with the niqab, ACCESS argued that face-to-face engagement between teacher and student was essential for adult learners trying to pick up basic English. The organization said it learned this lesson from a full year of remote teaching during the pandemic. ACCESS also stressed its identity as a 51-year-old Arab American nonprofit where over 80 percent of staff were women, many of whom wore the hijab. The organization said it accommodated other Muslim women who wore the niqab in different roles. Almost every manager involved in Hamood's case was Muslim or came from a Muslim background. ACCESS suggested an alternative: Hamood could instruct her students not to record the class and to make sure no man could see their screens. She rejected this option. ## **Jury Verdict** After a trial before Judge Linda V. Parker, the jury reached its verdict on February 20, 2026. The jurors found in favor of Sudoos Hamood on every key question. First, the jury found that Hamood held a sincere religious belief that conflicted with an ACCESS employment requirement. Second, they found that ACCESS failed to reasonably accommodate her religious practice. Third, and critically, the jury rejected ACCESS's main defense — they found that accommodating Hamood would not have caused undue hardship or significant disruption to the organization's operations. The jury then awarded Hamood the following damages: $5,471 in economic damages (lost wages), $300,000 in compensatory damages, and $1,500,000 in punitive damages. ACCESS quickly moved to reduce the award. The organization argued that Title VII placed a statutory cap on combined compensatory and punitive damages, and that punitive damages were not available under Michigan's ELCRA. The dispute centered on how many people ACCESS employed during the relevant period, since the cap depended on company size. ACCESS claimed it had between 200 and 500 employees, which would cap damages at $200,000. Hamood's team argued ACCESS employed more than 500 people, raising the cap to $300,000. On March 31, 2026, Judge Parker sided with Hamood on the employee count. She reviewed federal tax filings showing ACCESS reported 567 employees in 2020, 585 employees in 2021, and 638 employees in 2019. The judge rejected ACCESS's contradictory declaration from its CFO, noting it lacked supporting documentation and conflicted with the tax records. She applied the higher $300,000 cap. The Court then entered final judgment for Hamood: $5,471 in economic damages, $300,000 in compensatory damages under ELCRA, and $300,000 in punitive damages under Title VII. The total judgment came to **$605,471**, plus post-judgment interest at 3.50 percent per year. The Court also left the door open for an amended judgment to add attorney's fees and costs. 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