Cisco Accused of Fostering Hostile Work Environment for Muslim and Arab Employees

Cisco Systems may have fostered a hostile work environment for its Muslim and Arab employees, according to a determination made by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The EEOC found that Cisco subjected its employees to a hostile work environment amid a wave of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim comments on internal messaging platforms.

A group of Cisco employees called 'Bridge to Humanity' (B2H) filed a complaint with the EEOC in December 2024, alleging that the company had retaliated against one staffer for her involvement in pro-Palestine efforts by terminating her. The EEOC's determination said this was true.

The employees alleged that Cisco removed their open letter calling on the company to stop providing its technology to the Israeli government from an internal site and subsequently harassed many of the signatories.

A 76-page report cataloguing the hate comments in an internal messaging group called Connected Jewish Network was provided to Cisco's Employee Relations and Ethics offices, according to documents made public by The Guardian. The report stated that employees had repeatedly glorified violence, joked about sending people to their deaths, likened Palestinians and those with opposing viewpoints to animals, labeled Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims as murderous, violent terrorists.