A Muslim teenager is taking a Southern California school district to court after an English teacher allegedly branded him a terrorist. The lawsuit also accuses school administrators of brushing aside the remark as a joke instead of protecting the student, as reported by The New York Post.

Yousef Abdullah was 14 years old and a freshman at Cypress High School when the alleged incident occurred in February 2025. Abdullah had approached his teacher after being rejected from the Advanced Placement English program.

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists; that is people under the age of 18,” the English teacher allegedly told Abdullah, who is Palestinian American.

🚨BREAKING: Palestinian-American student Yousef Abdullah is suing California's Anaheim Union High School District after a Cypress High teacher allegedly told him, "I don't negotiate with terrorists," during a class dispute. https://t.co/3y7lEfG1RV

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The lawsuit says the remark did not end with that classroom exchange. A school counselor allegedly repeated the terrorist comment several times, while an assistant principal dismissed it as merely a phrase.

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Abdullah, now 16, is suing the Anaheim Union High School District. His lawsuit accuses district officials of discrimination and of failing to protect him following the alleged classroom remark.

Attorney Samer Habbas, who represents Abdullah, told The Orange County Register that the school’s response demonstrated the seriousness of the problem. “Clearly, the school’s not taking it seriously,” Habbas said.

The district conducted its own investigation into the incident. According to a March 2025 letter from Human Resources Director Amie Maya, investigators found evidence that a derogatory comment had been made.

The investigation also determined that the comment violated district policy against abusive language directed toward students. The district said the issue would be addressed through its confidential personnel process.

Habbas said that no meaningful discipline followed that process. The attorney’s account stands alongside the district’s own finding that a derogatory comment violated its policy.

The lawsuit includes allegations beyond the teacher’s terrorist remark. It claims school employees disclosed Abdullah’s ADHD diagnosis to his classmates without keeping the information private.

Those classmates subsequently mocked Abdullah as “SpEd,” according to the lawsuit. The complaint describes both the disclosure and the resulting ridicule as part of the treatment Abdullah experienced at the school.

The alleged conduct also affected how Abdullah viewed his Palestinian and Muslim identity, according to the complaint. It says the teenager became so ashamed that he attempted to avoid growing facial hair.

Abdullah also tried to avoid being seen in public with his parents, the complaint says. He has since transferred away from Cypress High School to another high school in Orange County.

Habbas argued that applying the terrorist label to a Palestinian Muslim child was dehumanizing. “When you’re calling a Palestinian child of Muslim descent a terrorist … it is completely inappropriate, it dehumanizes a kid,” Habbas said.

The case is now before Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Knill. The judge rejected an attempt by the Anaheim Union High School District to have Abdullah’s lawsuit dismissed.

The dispute places the teacher’s alleged words, the counselor’s alleged repetitions and the assistant principal’s reported response at the center of the case. It also puts the district’s handling of its own investigative findings under scrutiny.

The district acknowledged through Maya’s letter that evidence supported the existence of a derogatory comment. Its stated response was to handle the issue through a confidential personnel process, while Habbas maintains that meaningful discipline never materialized.

Abdullah’s lawsuit now asks the court to address allegations that began with his attempt to discuss admission to an Advanced Placement class. What followed, according to the complaint, was discrimination, disclosure of his ADHD diagnosis, and a failure by officials to protect him.