California: Palestinian-American student sues school, alleging teacher called him a “terrorist”

Sacramento: A 16-year-old Palestinian-American student in California, Yousef Abdullah, has sued the Anaheim Union High School District, alleging a teacher called him a “terrorist” in front of other students and that administrators took no effective disciplinary action despite his complaint.
The suit stems from a February 2025 incident, when Yousef, then 14, went to speak with his English teacher at Cypress High School after being denied entry to the Advanced Placement English program. According to the filing, the teacher allegedly told him in front of other students, “I don’t negotiate with terrorists, meaning people under 18.” Attorney Samer Habbas says a school counselor repeated the line several times, while an assistant principal tried to downplay it as a joke or idiom. Habbas told the Orange County Register the incident was deeply humiliating, an insult to a child’s humanity.
According to the filing, Yousef reported the incident to the counselor and assistant principal, and his parents also lodged a formal complaint. In March 2025, HR director Amy Maya wrote to the family that the investigation found evidence of demeaning comments in violation of the school board’s policy on inappropriate language toward students. The letter acknowledged the assistant principal had called the comment inappropriate, though it was also described as a joke. Maya said the matter would be handled under the district’s “confidential personnel process.” Habbas alleges no meaningful discipline followed, no employee was dismissed, and that the complaint was not taken as seriously as it deserved because of his Palestinian background.
The suit was filed in January 2026 and is pending in Orange County Superior Court. Judge Kimberly A. Knill recently rejected the district’s attempt to have the case dismissed on legal grounds. That means the case can proceed, but it does not prove the allegations. According to the Orange County Register, the district did not respond to a request for comment.
The suit also alleges that staff discussed Yousef’s special-needs status and ADHD diagnosis in front of other students, after which classmates mocked him with the term “special education.” The filing says he suffered embarrassment, anxiety, stress and social isolation, and that the school environment became hostile. It claims he grew ashamed of his Palestinian and Muslim identity and began avoiding things that might mark him as Arab or Muslim, such as growing a beard and being seen in public with his parents.
Habbas says Yousef has since moved to another Orange County high school and now wants to go by “Joseph.” He said the goal is to hold the district accountable for failing to protect the student, adding that no child should be called a terrorist by his school.