Kathmandu— The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has determined that networking technology company Cisco may have fostered a hostile work environment for its Middle Eastern and Muslim employees. The EEOC's findings, based on a complaint filed in December by a group of employees called 'Bridge to Humanity', highlight allegations of harassment following internal activism against the company’s technology sales to the Israeli military.

Employee Activism and Harassment

The Bridge to Humanity (B2H) group, which includes over 1,700 employees out of Cisco's total workforce of more than 86,000, had previously sent an open letter calling on the company to stop providing technology to the Israeli government. The group alleged that after their concerns were raised and the open letter was removed from an internal site for review, many signatories faced harassment. Among the allegations was a remark where one employee told another to 'quit living'.

EEOC's Determination

The EEOC’s determination, obtained by Al Jazeera and first reported by Politico Pro, states that Cisco subjected its employees to a hostile work environment. The company was accused of retaliating against one unnamed staffer for her involvement in pro-Palestine efforts by terminating the individual.

Legal Actions and Advocacy

The complaint with the EEOC was filed by Legal Aid at Work, a nonprofit legal services organization. Christopher Ho from Legal Aid at Work noted that this is 'the first time in any legal context where a governmental or judicial finding has sided with Big Tech workers who have collectively organised to fight for corporate accountability around their employers’ sales of technology to Israel.' Advocacy groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also praised the decision, emphasizing the importance of federal civil rights protections.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.