DOJ Suit Supporting Teacher’s Requested Mecca Trip Is a ‘Legal Reach,’ Ex-AG Says

A Justice Department lawsuit supporting a math teacher who wanted a three-week unpaid leave for a Mecca pilgrimage is spurring criticism from former DOJ officials.

The December lawsuit claims the school district in Berkeley, Ill., discriminated against middle-school teacher Safoorah Khan on the basis of her religious beliefs by denying her request and forcing her resignation, the Washington Post reports. School officials, on the other hand, claim the time off would have presented an undue hardship during a critical period at the end of the semester in December 2008.

Hans von Spakovsky, a Justice Department civil rights official in the Bush administration, says no jury would find the pilgrimage request reasonable. “This is a political lawsuit to placate Muslims,” he told the Washington Post.

Other courts that have considered leave requests have not dealt with one as long as 19 days, experts told the newspaper. One of the critics of the DOJ suit is former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

“It sounds like a very dubious judgment and a real legal reach,” Mukasey told the Post. “The upper reaches of the Justice Department should be calling people to account for this.”