Following years of litigation, education professor Melissa Landa has reached a settlement with the University of Maryland, College Park following retaliation for Israeli advocacy.
“Dr. Landa filed a complaint of religious discrimination and retaliation with the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission],” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Landa. “Following a full investigation, the EEOC issued a determination letter finding there was strong evidence that Dr. Landa was discharged in retaliation and urged the university to settle the case. UMD refused.”
Sekulow said his client, in testimony, stated that “she was discouraged from participating in [pro-Israel] activities and told not to display an Israeli flag in her office.”
The Center for Law and Justice had filed suit against UMD in January 2022, and the school repeatedly failed in its arguments for a dismissal. Landa and UMD came to a settlement in which the college would pay her attorney’s fees and unspecified damages totaling $140,000.
