Cisco may have violated the rights of pro-Palestine employees

In June, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made a determination in a novel case: The agency concluded there was reasonable cause to believe Cisco had infringed upon the rights of its Muslim and Middle Eastern employees, along with others who were pro-Palestine, by subjecting them to a hostile work environment. The case was initiated by complaints from Cisco employees who claimed they faced discrimination in the aftermath of the October 2023 attacks on Israel that led to the war in Gaza, according to a report by The Guardian. The complaints alleged that employees who were openly pro-Palestine had been silenced by leadership and were the target of harassment and hateful comments in the Connected Jewish Network, an internal forum that was open to all employees. As Wired previously reported, Cisco employees had protested the CEO’s initial response to the conflict in Gaza, which had expressed support for Israeli employees. By June 2024, a coalition called Bridge to Humanity—mostly comprised of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim employees—delivered an open letter to Cisco leadership, calling on the company to end its contracts with the Israeli government. The discriminatory rhetori…