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The Portland State University professor caught on video in June 2025 saying, “I am Hamas, We are all Hamas,” was one of 12 tenured faculty who received a layoff notice last week, and is suing the college for retaliation and discrimination.
In her suit, Dr. Yasmeen Hanoosh, an Arabic language and literature professor, says the college conducted an internal investigation of the incident captured on video and exonerated her of any violation of PSU policies.
Hanoosh filed her lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on May 20. She’s suing both her employer and Dr. Ann Cudd, PSU’s president.
Despite her exoneration, the lawsuit says, Hanoosh was one of 12 tenured professors PSU sent a 12-month layoff notice to on May 14, meaning it’s set for elimination in June 2027. The lawsuit alleges in part that the layoff should be construed as retaliation on the university’s behalf, “because she opposed and reported in good faith information she believed to be illegal behavior.”
Hanoosh has filed seven claims of relief with the university under various state laws related to national origin discrimination and hostile workplace environment, and alleges Cudd and PSU violated her first and fourteenth amendment rights.
And Hanoosh takes issue with the ten-month internal investigation that she alleges ultimately exonerated her, noting that PSU gave her 20 minutes to read the report and that the investigation was privileged, only to be shared with her legal counsel and union. Hanoosh alleges the report was “biased and one-sided” even though it cleared her, and “falsely framed Dr. Hanoosh’s political views against a genocide as antisemitic.” The report, she alleges, also concentrated on a few PSU voices in opposition to Hanoosh’s, and omitted many letters in support.
“Despite finding no policy violations, the report faulted Dr. Hanoosh for failing to anticipate that she would be filmed, and that her comments would be taken out of context and weaponized against her,” the lawsuit reads.
A spokesperson for PSU said the university cannot comment on pending litigation. WW could not immediately reach Cudd for comment.
On June 2, Hanoosh was caught on video at a rally to support Beaverton School Board member Tammy Carpenter, who was at the time under investigation after posting on her personal social media account that Israel should “stop the genocide” in Gaza. (That investigation cleared Carpenter of wrongdoing.) The lawsuit alleges that Hanoosh had been on sabbatical leave since spring 2024, and was attending the rally fully in her personal capacity.
In a seven-second video clip, an interviewer asks a woman at the rally if she is familiar with Hamas. “I am Hamas,” she replies. He repeats her statement back to her: “You are Hamas. Great.”
“We are all Hamas,” Hanoosh said, gesturing to the assembled crowd.
The lawsuit, similar to a tort claim notice Hanoosh filed in December, alleges Hanoosh was sarcastic when responding to the question, and that the broader context of the question had been edited out. The lawsuit says what Hanoosh said was not a reflection of her literal belief. “In context, her remark was an obvious instance of rhetorical hyperbole made in response to a provocative question,” it reads.
Despite this, Cudd issued a statement on June 6 as the video went viral to the PSU community, titled “Statement on Reprehensible Video.” In that statement, she condemned the video, saying the statements made “are absolutely unacceptable,” opened an investigation, and shared the faculty member involved had been placed on administrative leave.
Hanoosh alleges that though Cudd did not name her, the existence of that statement makes her readily identifiable and will cause long-term reputational damage that will make it harder to secure employment opportunities—all the more relevant because she has a layoff notice in hand.
“Defendants’ actions—particularly the public dissemination of statements associating Dr. Hanoosh with antisemitism, terrorism, and hate—have significantly damaged her professional reputation and impaired her ability to secure future academic employment and/or participate in scholarly collaborations,” the lawsuit reads. “This reputational harm has directly and proximately diminished Plaintiff’s future earning capacity and professional opportunities.”
Hanoosh alleges she’s tried several times to get Cudd to remove the June 6 statement from PSU’s website, to no avail. She tried again once she was allegedly exonerated, she says, but the statement remains posted.
The lawsuit finally alleges in selecting Hanoosh’s position for elimination, the university had unfairly excluded her from conversations around her employment. (While on leave, she was not able to participate in conversations informing layoff decisions.) It also alleges that PSU “deviated from its standard practice for selecting positions for layoff,” noting a dean had said there were no concerns about language minor degree programs like Arabic, but that Hanoosh’s layoff letter had “specified consideration of the Arabic minor in the elimination of her position.”
In a tight, specialized and competitive field like the one Hanoosh has been employed in, the lawsuit alleges that allegations of terrorism or antisemitism can be disqualifying regardless of accuracy.
“These losses are reasonably expected to result in hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in lost compensation, research funding, and career advancement over the course of Dr. Hanoosh’s professional life,” it reads.
Hanoosh is seeking a number of damages for “potentially permanent impairment” of her academic career and severe emotional distress, and asks the court to issue a permanent injunction that requires PSU remove Cudd’s June 6 statement that Hanoosh alleges effectively revealed her identity and condemned her without a proper investigation.
