Portland State University Professor Files $7M Defamation and Discrimination Lawsuit

A tenured Portland State University professor has filed a $7 million lawsuit against the university and its president, alleging she was falsely portrayed as aligned with terrorism after a video from an off-campus pro-Palestinian protest circulated online.

The lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by professor Yasmeen Hanoosh, accuses Portland State University and university president Ann Cudd of defamation, discrimination, retaliation, and violating her constitutional free speech rights after the university publicly condemned comments she made during a June 2025 protest.

Hanoosh, who teaches Arabic at the university, attended a Beaverton school board meeting and protest last June in support of Palestine during the ongoing war in Gaza. Court filings state Hanoosh became involved in a heated exchange with counterprotesters outside the meeting and sarcastically responded, “I am Hamas, we are all Hamas,” after being asked what she knew about Hamas. She claims the exchange was later edited into a short video clip that circulated online without context and portrayed her as expressing support for Hamas.

As the video spread online, Portland State University placed Hanoosh on administrative leave and launched an investigation. In a public statement at the time, Cudd described the comments in the video as “absolutely unacceptable” and said the university stood against “antisemitism, terrorism, and hate.”

Hanoosh claims the university publicly condemned her before interviewing her or reviewing the full context surrounding the exchange. She says Portland State University did not interview her about the incident until November 2025, more than five months after placing her on leave. Hanoosh also alleges the university barred her from campus, prohibited her from communicating with university personnel during the investigation, and kept her on leave for months while cancelling classes she had been scheduled to teach.

Before filing the lawsuit, Hanoosh’s legal team submitted a tort claim notice in December 2025, arguing that her comments were sarcastic and protected speech under the First Amendment. She alleges the university falsely portrayed her as aligned with terrorism and antisemitic ideology and created a hostile work environment through its handling of the investigation.

The tenured professor also claims the university discriminated against her based on her Arab and Iraqi background and retaliated against her, violating free and equal protection laws afforded to her under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. She says other faculty members who expressed strong political views related to Israel and Palestine were not subjected to similar disciplinary action. Court filings state the university ultimately concluded Hanoosh did not violate university policies after their investigation.

Hanoosh had been a professor in the university's World Languages and Literatures department since 2010 and was granted tenure in 2016. Her lawsuit explains that, despite her tenure status, the university identified her role, along with more than 50 other roles at the university, as slated for elimination in the coming school year. The university claimed that these expected cuts are a result of an at least $1 million budget reduction in the school's World Languages and Literatures department.

Portland State University is currently facing multiple investigations and disputes tied to campus speech, including a case investigated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, involving allegations of anti-Palestinian discrimination, and an investigation by the federal government claiming that the university allowed students to engage in antisemitic actions.

As part of the lawsuit, she is seeking $7 million in damages and asking the court to order the university to remove or correct public statements made about her and her participation in the off-campus pro-Palestine protest.